Blue Skies
by ktdid23
Summary: Bella Swan and Jasper Whitlock are famous actors who hate each other. The problem is that they have to portray a loving couple on a popular TV show. This is my first fanfiction! Rated M for possible future chapters. AH
1. Chapter 1

**AN: First fan fiction!**

**Summary: Bella Swan and Jasper Whitlock are famous actors who hate each other. The problem is that they have to portray a loving couple on a popular TV show. AH**

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**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns twilight**

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BPOV

"But-"

"And then your father and I will catch the flight and arrive at 3:00 on Thursday."

"Mom wait-"

"Oh honey I can't wait to see you! It's been way to long. I miss my little girl!"

"I know Mom, I miss you too but-" I paused and bit my lip.

"But what sweetie?" I sighed and closed my eyes.

"I'll pick you up at your terminal at 3." I clicked the phone shut and threw it on the bed with a groan. It wasn't long before I felt his arms wrap around my waist. I sighed and leaned back, resting my head against his chest. "I guess my parents will be joining us for Christmas," I spoke softly. I turned around in his arms and looked up into his eyes. I smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I couldn't exactly tell them no…" my voice trailed off as I looked down at my feet.

"Hey," his finger lifted my chin so that I was looking into his deep blue eyes. "They are your parents. I'm sure I will like them, especially since they were the ones to raise such an amazing woman." He spoke softly, his southern accent evident in his voice. I smiled at him.

"Yeah but it will be Christmas. I know you were planning for the two of us to go away together. I didn't realize they wanted to come here until I got the call and…" my rambling was cut short by the feel of his lips on mine. He smiled down at me once he pulled away.

"We'll just go away some other time. It doesn't matter as long as we're together."

"Yeah but you haven't met the chief," I mumbled, referring to my police chief father. He chuckled and tightened his hold around my waist. "True. I'll have to watch myself around him so that I don't find myself looking down the barrel of his gun." I laughed along with him. I shoved his arm playfully. "He's not that bad."

He opened his mouth to say something else when he was interrupted by the loud voice of my best friend as she zoomed into the living room we had been standing in. "Oh my god we have to go shopping! I completely forgot about all of the Christmas shopping I still have to do!" I stared at her like she had lost her mind. "How did the queen of shopping herself forget about shopping for Christmas?" I asked incredulously. She placed her hands on her hips.

"I was more preoccupied with perfecting my fall wardrobe if you must know," she stated indignantly. I shook my head exasperated.

"I should have known," I muttered. She put the spare key I had given her in her purse. "Oh I almost forgot!" I jumped at her outburst. "There was a note and a rose on your doorstep. Looks like someone has a secret admirer," she sang. I gulped audibly and I felt the arms around my waist tighten. "Anyway," she continued on as if she hadn't noticed the tension her sentence had instilled in me and my guy. "I'm starved! Do you have any more of those lemon squares?" I nodded and watched as she zoomed into the kitchen.

"This is getting out of hand," my guy spoke softly behind me once she was out of hearing range. He rested his chin on my shoulder. "You need to speak to your dad about this."

"No!" I answered too loudly. I cleared my throat and shook my head slightly. "I mean he has only been leaving notes and flowers. Unless things go further I don't see the point of worrying anyone needlessly." He sighed. "I don't like this," He mumbled. I pulled away and walked to the front door. "I don't either but it's almost Christmas and I refuse to be the cause of problems this holiday." He opened his mouth to protest but I held a hand up to stop him. "If he doesn't stop by the time Christmas is over, then I'll tell my dad. Deal?" He sighed and nodded. I smiled at him and opened the door. Sure enough there was a single red rose and a folded up piece of paper on the doorstep. I picked it up with shaky hands and read the note.

_Roses are red_

_I love you so much I'll kill._

_If you don't dump the loser_

_His blood will spill._

I gasped and the note fell through my shaky fingers.

As the note hit the floor I heard another voice shout, "Aaaannddd CUT!"

I smiled as the director gave me the thumbs up. I was relieved that it was over. I started walking in the direction where my best friend Jacob Black had been waiting.

"That was amazing Bells!" Jake ran the rest of the way to me and picked me up in a bone crushing hug.

"Can't…Breath…Jake!" I gasped.

"Oops sorry!" He laughed and put me back down but slung his huge arm over my shoulders.

Jake was incredibly tall, at least 6'7" so whenever he stood this close to me I would have to strain to look into his dark eyes. He is also incredibly muscular with russet colored skin. He is very protective of me. We've known each other our whole lives. We had tried dating when I was fifteen and he was seventeen. We even lost our virginities to one another. But, our relationship didn't feel right so we settled on being best friends.

When we were younger the two of us were pretty reckless. I lost track of how many times I ended up in the emergency room from one of the stupid ideas we had. Once, I was having a bad day and he took me cliff diving. I would have drowned if Jake hadn't been there to pull me out. He was also the one to teach me how to ride a motorcycle.

"Anyways you did great!" Jake boomed, startling me out of my reverie.

"Thanks but I'm just relieved that it's over. I can't stand Jasper! Ugh talk about an overly inflated head. Now I have to go take a shower to wash off the feel of his arms around me." I shuddered. Jake laughed and ruffled my hair.

"Yeah well, you wouldn't be able to tell that the two of you hate each other when you are filming." I laughed at this.

"Wow I must be a really good actress then," I joked.

He shook his head, smiling. Jake despised Jasper almost as much as I did. Maybe it had to do with the way him and his friends treated me, but he always had my back when one of them threw a snide remark my way.

"So I was thinking, we should go get Leah, Seth and Emmett and go to lunch. I don't know about you but I'm starved!" He patted his stomach with his hand for emphasis. I laughed. "Alright, let me go get changed and then I'll meet up with you guys. Where did you want to go?"

"How about that new pizza place, Linda's I think is what it's called."

"Sure," I agreed.

I turned and headed for my dressing room when I heard the familiar southern voice that never ceased to make my blood boil.

"Nice acting today Swan. One step up from the atrocious acting you did last week but if it's the best you can do…" his voice trailed off. I gritted my teeth and turned to face him.

"Hi Jasper," I said in an overly sweet voice. I put on my best innocent expression. "Huh, you aren't looking too well today. Is that a rash?" I pretended to squint my eyes while I looked him over. "Maybe you should get tested for syphilis. It wouldn't be surprising if you tested positive considering who you hang out with…" My voice trailed off as I gestured with my head to where the tiny pixie-like creature otherwise known as Alice Brandon was standing. She may play my best friend on the show but in real life she was an insufferable bitch.

His eyes widened before narrowing. He took a step closer until we stood toe to toe. I wouldn't admit this to him but I was a little intimidated. He stood at about 6'3" whereas I only stood at 5'4". It took everything in me not to take a step back. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction. Instead, I stared up into his eyes unblinking. "What are you saying _Bella_," he sneered my name.

"I thought it would be obvious to a man whore such as yourself. I mean seriously, I wouldn't be surprised if you slept with one of the producers in order to get the part." I replied back innocently. I was only playing off of what the tabloids have been saying. Apparently Jasper Whitlock is known to be one of Hollywood's biggest players. His eyes flashed with anger.

"You don't know anything about me," he growled. He took a deep breath and that damned smirk was back on his face. "But, in case you were wondering, the reason I got the role was because of hard work on my part. Not that you would understand that considering all you probably had to do was run to your _daddy_ and ask him to get you a spot on the show."

Now it was my turn to flush with anger. My dad is a big time producer here in Hollywood. Ever since I was four he had put me in acting classes. The first movie I was in came out when I was eleven. I worked hard for almost my whole life to get to where I am today. Therefore, the fact that he implied that the only reason I got this part was because of my dad's status made me see red. That seems to be one of his favorite insults. He seems to know how much it bothers me when he says something along those lines because he uses that insult frequently. I opened my mouth to retaliate when I was cut off by the annoying pixie herself. I didn't even notice that she had sidled up to us while we had been verbally slamming each other.

"Jazz, let's go already. You don't know what you'll catch if you stand around _her_ too long." She sneered in my direction. Before I could even respond, she slipped her arm in Jasper's and they walked away from me without so much as a backwards glance. I balled my hands into fists and continued on to my dressing room.

Jasper and I had always been on bad terms since the start of the show two years ago. If I didn't hate him so much I would probably waste my time drooling over him. He was god worthy with his looks. He stood at 6'3" and had the softest looking blonde waves of hair. His eyes were the brightest shade of blue and he was muscular, but not overly muscular. We had hated each other since the very first meeting.

_Flashback:_

_It was the morning of my audition for the show, __Blue Skies__. I was waiting for my name to be called when suddenly a large body slammed into me making me fall on my ass. To make matters worse, the person who had bumped into me spilled their coffee all down my new dress from Dolce and Gabbana. _

_"Shit! I'm so sorry!" A southern voice said. A hand appeared in my vision but I ignored it and jumped up. "Fuck! This better come off! Watch where you're going next time!" It was then that I stared up into his blue eyes. I recognized the guy standing before me as none other than Jasper Whitlock himself. He is also pretty famous and has been in quite a few movies but not as many as me. _

_"Look, I'm sorry. I was running late so I was in a hurry-" I cut him off there. _

_"Not my problem. And FYI, when you are auditioning for a part in a show, movie, or whatever, you are supposed to get there early so this kind of thing doesn't happen!" I waved a hand angrily to indicate the stain. I know I was being too harsh but I couldn't seem to care at the moment considering the fact that I have an audition in twenty minutes and now am drenched in coffee! Not to mention my new $1,500 dress is now ruined. I had spent three hours this morning making sure my hair, makeup and outfit were perfect and now this happened! _

_"I know what to do for an audition," he stated indignantly. "Obviously not," I quipped. We glared at one another for a moment longer before I turned around and stormed into the bathroom. _

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"_Fuck Fuck Fuck!" I cursed when I realized the stain would not come off with the water I had been using. "Oh that sucks," I heard a high voice say behind me. I turned around and saw a girl who looked to be about 5'8" with russet colored skin and brown eyes. "Leah Clearwater," she said and stuck out her hand. "Bella Swan," I replied while taking her hand. "Yeah, I know. You're kinda famous," Leah giggled. I laughed but then groaned as I caught sight of my reflection again._

"_That idiot, Jasper Whitlock, spilled his coffee all over me right before my audition!" _

"_Hmm," she raked her eyes over my little problem. "I may be able to help. I'm the costume designer here. Well, one of them at least. Follow me," she spoke quickly and turned around and left the bathroom. I hesitated but followed her quickly after realizing I now only had ten minutes until my audition. I followed her around a few hallways until she stopped in this dimly lit area where there were racks of clothing. She started rifling through the clothes until she finally pulled out a deep blue off the shoulder dress and held it up for me to take. I quickly pulled my coffee soaked dress off, not caring that I was now standing there in my underwear, and shoved the dress over my head. _

_"Just what I thought!" Leah said happily. "That color blue goes great with your skin tone!" _

"_Thank you so much! You are a life saver!" I smiled at her before heading off for my audition._

_End of flashback_

Needless to say, I got the part of the main female character, Kristen, of _Blue Skies_. Leah and I had been friends ever since that first day on set. I introduced Leah and Jake to each other soon afterwards. As soon as I introduced them though, they went all shy on me. To see Jake so flustered and shy was hilarious. I could definitely see the two of them together. They were so cute, especially since they both were so oblivious to their feelings for one another.

Jasper and I had hated each other ever since that day as well. When I heard he got the part of Jackson, the main male role, I had intended on apologizing for being so rude to him that day.

_Flashback:_

_I had felt guilty once I had finished my audition. I know it was an accident that Jasper had bumped into me. I blamed the nerves. No matter how many auditions I have gone through in my life, I always get jittery before them. I was on set the day we would be performing the first act when I saw Jasper. I took a deep breath and took a swig of the diet coke I had in my hand. Now was my opportunity. _

_I walked over to him with my head held high. I stopped when I was in front of him. He raised his eyebrows in silent question. I opened my mouth to start apologizing when he cut me off. _

_"So what does little miss priss want from me?" I swallowed and tried to speak when he interrupted me again. "Let's get one thing straight, I'll stay out of your way and you stay out of mine. Technically we only need to be around each other on set." I heard him mumble to himself, "you probably only got the part due to your dad anyways." _

_That comment made me bristle with anger and before my brain caught up with my actions I had dumped the remainder of my soda down the front of his shirt. "Now we're even," I smirked at his enraged face and walked away from him._

_End of Flashback_

After that, things started escalating. It made it worse that he played the guy I was supposed to pretend that I was hopelessly in love with. That thought made me laugh. As if that would ever happen in real life. It's ironic that the two people I hate most in the world end up being the two people I have to pretend to be closest to on set. Alice plays my best friend Bree on the show. Before the show took off, no one had heard of her. This was her big chance for her acting career.

However, we always loathed each other from day one. She and Jasper are best friends and since he doesn't like me, it would only make sense that she would follow his lead. I've also met his sister Rosalie and Alice's boyfriend Edward on occasion. They seemed to have followed Jasper's lead and throw snide remarks my way whenever I see them hanging around set. It doesn't bother me that much because my friends always have my back.

Jake hangs around the set almost as much as Leah and I do. Seth stops by occasionally as well. Seth is Leah's little brother. He is always happy and has been the buffer on many of Jake's and my fights (not that they last long but we tend to argue on occasion).

Emmett McCarty is also a part of our little group. He is also like a big brother to me. He is about 6'5" and incredibly muscular. He's the son of my agent and I happened to meet him about 5 years ago. When I first met him I was pretty intimidated by his size, but once I got to know him I realized he is like a big teddy bear.

Acting has been my life. I had acted in a lot of well-known movies, but I wanted to try acting for a TV show to gain a little consistency in my life. Before I knew it, the show took off and now, two years later, it was rated the number one soap opera on TV. Now, I was even more famous than I had been before Blue Skies had premiered.

I came back to the present to see that my feet had led me to my dressing room. I opened the door and my attention was caught by the single red rose and piece of paper sitting on my table. Curiously, I went over and picked up the note and read it:

_Roses are red_

_I love you so much._

_I will settle on watching you_

_Until you'll be mine to touch._

I stared at the note a little while longer until realization settled over me. I doubled over laughing.

"Wow, he really is a douche." I shook my head at the idea of Jasper sneaking this rose and note into my room trying to scare me. On the show, my character, Kristen, was being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. He would leave a single red rose and a poem that always started off with "Roses are red." I guess Jasper was trying to spook me or something. I read over the last line again.

"Creepy much?" I mumbled.

"What's creepy?" I heard a voice say behind me. I jumped and turned around to see Leah poking her head into my room. I guess I had left the door ajar.

"Sorry, you were taking a while and Jake had me check to see if you were ready. You know how he gets when he's hungry." We both laughed at that.

"Yeah I'm almost ready," I replied as I grabbed a shirt quickly and shoved it over my head.

"So what was creepy?" Leah asked.

"Huh?"

"When I walked in you were saying "creepy much?"

"Oh, just Jasper being weird again."

We laughed and Leah turned to leave. I grabbed the rose and note and dumped them in my trash bin as I followed Leah out of the room.

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**AN: Like it? Hate it? Please review and let me know if you think I should continue with this. The idea for this story just popped in my head and once I started I just kept going lol. I'm kind of winging it at the moment so I'm sorry if it's all over the place. Remember, this is my first fan fiction, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading!**

**~Katie~ **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Thanks for all the great reviews! They gave me the motivation to get this chapter out sooner than I probably would have.**

**I hope you enjoy this one!**

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**Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I did, I don't own Twilight. That awesomeness belongs to Stephanie Meyer. :)**

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BPOV

It felt so nice to be able to sit down and relax at Starbucks, where I was currently sitting with Leah, after having to run around almost non-stop for this past week. This week I basically worked my ass off at the studio, doing cover shoots for various magazines, running from mobs full of crazy fans, working with my personal trainer, and trying my damndest to make Jasper's time at the studio a living hell of course (insert evil cackle here).

"Bella?"

Hmm it was already June 26th. Wait a second… That meant Paul's birthday was in ten days! Paul and I had been a couple for three years now so I definitely needed to get him something special.

"Bella, you with me?"

Paul and I met one day when Jake and I were hanging out. I had been riding my motorcycle and didn't see a huge-ass rock that was chillin' in the middle of the road. Next thing I knew, I was sprawled in the dirt with a fuck-hot guy crouching over me asking if I was okay. This is pretty much how the conversation went:

"_Are you alright?" Hot guy said to me._

"_Huh?"_

"_You're bleeding."_

"_Uh…"_

"_Can you walk?"_

_Cue the drool._

I'm pretty sure he thought I was mentally challenged after that. But once he found out that I could actually form a coherent sentence (and after a trip to the emergency room) we found out we had a lot in common.

Jake thought it was the funniest thing ever and still makes fun of me for that. You think he would be a little more concerned about the fact that I nearly DIED! But no, he was too busy bent over laughing his ass off at my expense. Gah!

"Bellaaaa!"

"Hmm?"

"I said are you blah blah blah blah."

Hmm I wonder if Paul would like to travel to Paris with me for his birthday. We could get a great hotel room overlooking the Eiffel tower. Tanya Denali (one of the producers of Blue Skies) told me that the Hotel De Crillon was good. Maybe we could stay there. I could book us a presidential suite.

"BELLA ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME?" Leah screamed at me.

I jumped, startled. Several people turned around in their seats and gave us dirty looks. Then recognition crossed their faces before a crowd suddenly gathered around our table.

By now I'm pretty used to the screeching fans and people shoving paper and pens in my face. This wasn't anything different. I sighed before starting to sign autographs and getting blinded by the flashing lights of cameras going off.

Leah and I had decided to grab some soy lattes at Starbucks before heading back to the studio. We had a break for lunch and there was no way I was hanging around Jasper any more than I had to.

"Of course I was listening! What kind of friend do you think I am?" I stated indignantly, even though I had no idea what she had been saying. Not that I would fess up to that though…he he.

"Then what was I saying?" She said, crossing her arms. She was obviously not going to let this go.

"What, you don't believe your own friend? That hurts," I put on my best pouty look as I scribbled my autograph down for a high school girl. My hand was starting to cramp and my coffee was getting cold because of all of the signing I was now doing.

"And couldn't you have kept your voice down," I muttered, pointedly looking at the now thinning crowd. Some people were jumping up and down saying things like, "Bella Swan touched my hand!" and "I wonder if I can nick Bella Swan's napkin! That would make me a fortune on eBay!" I rolled my eyes at that one.

Leah looked a bit guilty about that but she huffed in exasperation. "That pouty look doesn't work on me. Try Emmett or Jake for that one." She laughed. "What got you so distracted anyway? You were like on your very own planet for a while there."

I shrugged. "I guess I just have a lot on my mind. I was thinking about Paul's birthday on the 6th." Leah nodded in understanding.

"Oh yeah. So what are you going to get him?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.

Leah and Jake never liked Paul for some reason. I never understood why. He was always sweet and caring to me. Leah always said he rubbed her the wrong way. I don't know what Jake's problem with him is though. I should ask him about that…

"I don't know. I want to do something special for him, you know? I was thinking about arranging a romantic trip for the two of us. I've been leaning towards Paris." I paused and bit my lip. "But maybe Venice would be good too," I added thoughtfully.

Leah shook her head in awe. "Wow I wish I could afford to do something like that for people's birthdays." I didn't know what to say to that so I just took another sip of my latte. I decided to change the subject.

"So what's going on with you and Jake?" I asked innocently.

She had just taken a sip of her coffee and my question caused her to cough and splutter.

"You okay there?" I asked.

"Uh yeah I just swallowed the wrong way." She looked so nervous that I just had to take pity on her.

"I'm sure he feels the same way about you too Leah." Her surprised expression was almost comical.

"Oh give me a break! It's so obvious that the two of you like each other!" I said exasperated.

She abandoned her shocked expression in favor of a hopeful one.

"You really think he likes me?"

"Definitely! I see the way he looks at you! He's probably just scared you'll reject him or something. Emmett and I have even taken bets to see when you two would get together!"

"Excuse me? You're betting on my love life?" Oh shit. I hadn't meant to say that. I scratched the back of my neck nervously and then waved a hand dismissively.

"That doesn't matter right now. What does matter is the fact that you two would be great together! I swear Jake is becoming too uptight these days. He needs to get seriously laid!" Leah's face took on a subtle pink tinge at that.

She hit my arm. "Shut up," she muttered. Suddenly, her lips tugged upwards at the corners. "What were the stakes?"

"Huh?"

"You made a bet with Emmett, what were the stakes?"

I shook my head and groaned. "I don't want to think about it. It's the worst thing he could have thought up for me. Although, if I win, it'll be so worth it." I laughed as we exited the coffee shop, ignoring all the staring and pointing going on around me.

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I squealed as soon as I walked into the studio. Paul was here! He rarely ever visits me at the studio because he is always busy working.

He works in graphic design so if he isn't at his office, he is lugging his lap top around. He does a lot of work with website layouts.

"Paul!" I screamed as I launched myself into his arms. His muscular arms caught me as I wrapped my legs around his waist. He laughed.

"It's good to see you too babe." Once he set me down, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I instinctively leaned my head against his chest, feeling his lips press against my temple in a chaste kiss.

"How are you Leah?" He spoke over my shoulder. Leah made an indescribable noise in the back of her throat and made her way over to where Jake was standing. He was shooting disgusted looks Paul's way. I would seriously need to talk to the two of them. This has been going on for three years!

I can't take my best friends acting like this towards my boyfriend much longer! I don't even know why they don't like Paul. He's always nice to them…at least when I'm around.

Paul's voice jostled me out of my thoughts. I really need to pay more attention to what people are saying… This is the second time today! Ok Bella, focus!

"I can't stay long, because I need to go back to the office soon. I just wanted to surprise my favorite girl." I smiled at that. "And I was wondering if you wanted to go out for dinner tomorrow night. I would take you out tonight but I've been pretty busy with this new project I've been working on."

He paused and added as an afterthought, "I was actually surprised I got away for the little bit I did, so I chose to come and see you."

He looked so overworked that I just wanted to soothe him. I could see dark circles under his eyes and his hair, which was normally well kept, was slightly disheveled.

I nodded and gave him a bright smile. "I would love to go out to dinner with you tomorrow night."

He smiled and leaned down to peck me on the lips before he pulled away. It was then that I noticed Jasper and his evil pixie sidekick standing a few feet away (cue dramatic supervillain music). Jasper was looking my way and there was a gleam in his eyes. Oh no. This can't be good.

Paul turned to leave and had taken a few steps when Jasper sidled up to me. "Hey baby. I had a great time with you earlier. We'll have to have a repeat of that performance once you can get away from your boyfriend again," he said suggestively, just loud enough for Paul to hear.

He then leaned down and slapped my ass and winked!

Paul knows I hate Jasper with a passion so I wasn't worried about this causing a problem between the two of us but the fact that he slapped my ass is another story.

Paul spun around on the spot and was about to lunge for Jasper when I put a calming hand on his arm.

"It's alright Paul," I murmured. Then louder so that Jasper could hear, "don't mind Jasper. He's just in a pissy mood. It only makes sense. I heard about some of the side effects of Viagra. They don't sound pleasant.

Isn't that the medication you are on Jasper?" I scrunched up my face like I was thinking hard about something. "I thought I overheard you talking about how you were having certain issues lately…" I trailed off staring pointedly at his crotch. **(AN: no offence to those who take Viagra or know anyone who takes it lol)**.

Paul doubled over laughing. I saw Leah and Jake shaking with laughter from the corner of my eye as well. I could have sworn that even the pixie bitch's lips twitched in amusement. Then she resumed her glare that just made her look constipated.

Jasper took a step closer to me and smirked. "I assure you I don't have any problems in that area. If you weren't such a stuck-up prissy bitch I might offer to show you."

I scoffed but before I could say anything else I was cut off by the director, Scott. "Alright, enough you two. Let's get back to work." With that Paul planted a kiss on my lips and threw a glare towards Jasper before walking out the door. I flipped Jasper the one finger solute before getting into position on set.

* * *

I stared up into his blue eyes. "I won't let him get near you," Jasper whispered.

I looked down and let a single tear drop down my cheek (I got pretty good at that through all my years of acting).

Jasper put a finger under my chin and lifted my head up so that I was looking into his eyes again. "I think it is about time you told your dad about this. He is the police chief and all. He will know what to do," he said gently.

I shook my head violently. "No. I refuse to let James cause everyone to worry."

"You said you would tell your dad about this if he hadn't stopped by the time Christmas was over," he stated angrily. (**AN: in the show, only a couple of months have passed since the show had taken a break after the season finale in December. I'm sorry if it's a little confusing**).

"I mean, look at this note!" He then proceeded to read it to me.

"_Roses are red_

_By my side you'll always be._

_I'm counting down the days_

_Until it will just be you and me."_

He threw the note down beside the latest rose that my character's psycho ex-boyfriend, James, had dropped off.

"Look, I don't think I need to tell anyone."

I continued quickly after he started to protest, "I mean he has only left notes and roses. That hardly qualifies for a restraining order."

He shook his head, unconvinced. "It's not so much that he leaves notes, but the _content_ in them."

I sighed and closed my eyes. "They are only notes and roses," I repeated my earlier sentiments.

"For now," he whispered.

I looked away and bit my lip. "He wasn't always like this, Jackson," I said quietly. "Or maybe that's just it. He was always like this but I didn't want to believe it." I choked on a fake sob.

Jasper wrapped his arms around me and wiped his fingers across my cheeks to rid them of the tears I had forced out. His warm breath fanned across my face making me want to gag. I ignored that reflex and adorned that disgustedly loving expression that my character frequently wore around him.

"Kristen, I won't let him get near you," he repeated his earlier words passionately. I gave him a watery smile.

"I love you baby," he whispered.

"I love you too," I replied, trying to ignore the urge to puke as those words left my mouth.

He smiled and leaned down, capturing my lips with his. I swear I felt bile rising up my throat when his tongue entered my mouth! Ewww! He was definitely not the one I wanted to be doing this with!

It was a relief when the director finally called cut. I very nearly took half the set down with me when I bolted away from him, hearing Jasper's laughter echo after my hasty departure.

* * *

"I mean seriously, I don't know how much more of this I can take Lee-lee. If I have to make-out with him one more time…" I trailed off disgustedly. Leah snorted but chose not to comment.

Leah and I have taken up post in the bathroom once I was finished with filming. Well it was more for me. Leah would just keep me company when I was like this.

I poured some more mouth wash in my mouth and swished it around. This became a frequent routine of mine. Whenever I had to make-out with that disgusting _thing_ on set, I would barricade myself in the bathroom afterwards and gargle until my tongue would go numb.

"Okay honey, I think you've had enough. I'm officially cutting you off," Leah said while shaking her head and grabbing my half empty bottle of Listerine.

"There's not enough mouthwash in the world to get rid of Jasper's taste in my mouth," I grumbled. "You know, I think he had tuna fish for lunch today on purpose!" I shuddered involuntarily.

Thinking about Jasper was seriously putting me in a funk. I definitely needed to do something to make this day better. I refused to let thoughts of Jasper ruin my Friday night.

With that thought a smile took over my features. I spun around so fast that I nearly fell over. I would have if Leah hadn't grabbed my shoulders to steady me.

"Whoa, easy there," Leah laughed.

I ignored her and instead started jumping in place, clapping my hands together like one of those deranged monkey robot things.

"You know what I just realized?" I asked. Leah shook her head, eyeing me warily.

"It's Friday!" I was now vibrating in place.

"Yeah…" Leah spoke slowly.

"And we don't have to work tomorrow!"

We have the weekends off since the studio is closed during those days.

I continued on, "plus I got this new killer outfit…" I looked at her expectantly.

"Please tell me you know where I'm going with this!" I whined exasperatedly. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Come on Leah! I have to burn off some steam! I swear I lost a couple dozen brain cells hanging around that idiot too much. I can almost feel my brain turning to mush! Besides, when was the last time we had a night out on the town. I can't remember the last good drink I had!"

I suddenly put my hand to my mouth and gasped dramatically. "Oh. My. God! I'm turning into mother freaking Teresa! At the rate I'm going I might as well join a convent!" I waved my hands through the air maniacally.

"I don't think you would actually qualify to join a convent due to your little escapades with a certain annoying someone," Leah countered, wearing a bemused expression.

I stared at her un-amused.

"Oh ha ha," I replied sarcastically. "Seriously though, we need to get out! A night out is just what the doctor ordered!"

Leah laughed at my outburst but a slow smile spread across her face.

"Where did you want to go?"

I squealed. "Eclipse of course!" My voice reverberated around the tile of the bathroom making it sound ten times louder.

Leah clasped her hands over her ears dramatically. "Jesus girl! You'll be receiving a bill for the hearing aid I now require!" I rolled my eyes at her but resumed jumping in place.

Eclipse was one of my favorite places to hang out. It was a 21 year old and over night club that had the best music and drinks.

"Okay, sounds good," Leah agreed. "I'll go tell the others." Leah turned to leave.

"Once you do that, meet me outside at my car. You are coming over to my house so we can get ready together. I just got this new outfit that Jake would keel over if he saw you wear."

Leah blushed but nodded in acceptance. She knew there was no stopping me when I got this way.

Once she had walked away I headed off to my dressing room to grab my things. Luckily I didn't run into Jasper on the way.

I was practically skipping through the doorway into my room, anticipating the possibilities of this night out, when I stopped dead in my tracks.

On the table in my dressing room was another red rose and a piece of paper. Jasper is relentless, I'll give him that. But couldn't he have been more original instead of copying from the show? I mean this is like the tenth time he has done this! He is seriously begging for a nice ass kicking courtesy of moi. I smiled vindictively at that thought.

I rolled my eyes and crossed the room. I picked the note up to see what it said:

_Roses are red_

_My love for you is deep._

_You are adorable_

_When you talk in your sleep._

"What the hell?" I screeched. How did Jasper know that I talked in my sleep? Okay this is getting weird and really annoying. I crumpled the piece of paper up and threw it and the rose in the trash bin.

"He really needs to know when to stop," I muttered. I shook my thoughts off and grabbed my purse before flicking off the lights and leaving for a much needed night out.

* * *

**AN: If anyone was wondering, the ages for the main characters are as follows:**

**Bella: 24**

**Jasper: 27**

**Paul: 26**

**Leah: 25**

**Jake: 26**

**Emmett: 28**

**Seth: 22**

**Alice: 23 (will be more prevalent in future chapters)**

**Edward: 26 (will appear later)**

**Rosalie: 27 (I haven't mentioned this yet, but Jasper and Rosalie are twins. She'll be in this story later as well). **

**Let me know if I forgot anyone.**

**Next chapter will be the night out. I've already started writing it. I have a few ideas for this story but I'm still pretty much winging it at the moment. **

**Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading!**

**Love,**

**Katie**


	3. Chapter 3

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**AN: I wanted to say thanks for the awesome reviews! They've kept me writing! **

**I was asked a question that I decided to answer on here since some of you may be wondering this as well. There will be romance between Bella and Jasper but that won't be happening for a few more chapters. Right now they don't exactly like each other so I'm trying to ease into the romance part. Besides, Bella has a current boyfriend who she is really faithful too. But don't worry! I have a plan…sort of…maybe. haha **

**Well anyway, here's chapter three! :)**

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**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.**

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BPOV

"Hold still!" I tried in vain once again to get near my stubborn friend's eyelashes.

"No! I refuse to let you get near me with that evil looking contraption!"

I groaned in exasperation. "It's just an eyelash curler! I swear it only _looks_ scary but it is completely harmless!" I tried to approach her with it again but she dodged my attempts.

"Seriously Leah, you act like you never used one of these before!" I threw my hands up in frustration. Suddenly realization crashed down on me before I gasped at the horror of this situation.

"Wait! You never have used this before, have you?" I asked incredulously. She shook her head at me.

"How can you be my friend and never used an eyelash curler before?" I stared at her, utterly perplexed. "Alright," I began, determined, "there is a first time for everything. Now. Come. Here." I punctuated each word but she stubbornly shook her head and backed away from me.

"Alright, you leave me no other choice." She looked nervous about the sudden evil grin that crossed my face. Suddenly I lunged at her knocking her off her feet. I climbed on top of her until I was straddling her waist. She tried bucking me off but I wouldn't budge. Having a personal trainer comes in handy at times like these.

"Don't move," I exclaimed before leaning down to again attempt using the eyelash curler on her. Our faces were mere inches apart when suddenly my bedroom door burst open. I looked up to see Emmett and Jake standing there with their mouths hanging open. I could have sworn I saw drool leaking out the sides of their mouths and their eyes were glazed over.

I cleared my throat, annoyed at the interruption. That seemed to snap them out of it. At least they had the decency to look sheepish. Emmett was the first to speak. "Sorry. We let ourselves in and then we heard screaming and a loud thump. It sounded like you two were being murdered so we decided to come check it out." Suddenly he grinned. "We didn't anticipate you two would be putting on your own little show. Mind if we stay?"

I huffed. "I wouldn't be in this position if someone," I glared at Leah, "wasn't so terrified of essential beauty products!"

"Well, don't blame me! That _thing_ looks like some sort of medieval torture device!" The boys laughed at our bickering.

"We'll wait downstairs. When do you two think you'll be ready?"

I shrugged. "Give us another ten minutes. You guys can start pre-gaming. You know where the alcohol is."

Jake nodded. "Seth just called and said he was on his way. So he should be here soon." With that Emmett and Jake left me alone to finish with Leah. Leah seemed to notice that too because she visibly gulped.

"Are you adverse to a bribe?" Leah asked with wide eyes.

I rolled my eyes at her. "You make it sound like I am attempting to pluck all of the hairs out of your head and dye your scalp purple. Stop being such a baby!" She groaned but acquiesced in the end (not that she had a choice with me holding her down like this hehe).

* * *

"So what do you think?" I asked, once I had finished with her makeup and she had changed into the outfit I had laid out for her. I had already changed and done my makeup.

I was wearing an emerald green top, which complimented my curves, with a plunge line and skinny jeans which hung low on my hips. I finished my ensemble with my black Jimmy Choo pumps. I had curled my hair and pinned it back in a loose bun, with a few curls hanging down in the front. I completed my look with smoky eyes, which made my chocolate brown eyes pop, and some clear, glossy lip gloss. Leah on the other hand was wearing a red halter top with low rise jeans. I had curled her hair slightly and left it down so that the soft curls cascaded down her back. For her makeup, I settled on a more natural, evening look for her eyes (since she hardly ever wears makeup) and sheer red lip gloss.

I waited for Leah's reaction to her appearance.

"Wow," Leah breathed, causing me to laugh. She was sitting at the vanity table in my room staring at her reflection in the vanity mirror, while I was sprawled across my bed, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"I don't know why I'm so surprised though. You are pretty talented with your beauty supplies. If you weren't such a great actress, I would ask if you had considered a job in makeup artistry." I laughed and rolled over so I was lying on my stomach with my hands propping my head up.

"You look hot Leah! Jake is going to flip a fucking lid when he sees you!" I exclaimed, happy with my work. That caused her to smile. She didn't even try to deny it to me anymore.

"What about you? Any guys you're trying to impress tonight?" I shook my head.

"I have a boyfriend Lee-lee," she wrinkled her nose at that in distaste. I chose to ignore that, for now. "Besides, for me, this night is more about getting out and trying to forget about the shit-load of stuff I have to do come Monday." She nodded and started fingering the red halter top I had supplied for her.

"By the way, I love this top! Where did you get it?"

"Oh that was a gift," I said distractedly. "Posing for cover shoots does have its advantages."

Leah gasped. "You mean you got this for free?"

"Uh-huh. You can keep it though. I was meaning to clear out my wardrobe soon anyways. It seems to be overflowing with clothes at the moment."

Leah stared at me dubiously. "But your wardrobe is bigger than my entire room at home!" She pointed out.

I shrugged. "Like I said, posing for cover shoots has its advantages."

Leah laughed. "I'll say. Well thanks for the top!" She said excitedly causing me to laugh.

"No problem. Are you ready to go?" She nodded and we headed down the stairs and joined the guys waiting for Seth.

* * *

After pre-gaming, which consisted of three shots of patron each, we were all on our way to _Eclipse_.

"This is a great way to be discreet Bells," Jake said sarcastically, referring to the stretch limo we were currently occupying. "I thought you wanted to stay unnoticed tonight."

"Yeah but first of all, I am _always_ noticed when I go out in public. No matter what kind of transportation I take, it won't change that. And second, this way we can all drink without worrying about finding a DD," I said with a shrug.

Seth beamed. "Personally, I like it. It's like we're arriving with style. I feel like I'm a celebrity too!" Emmett nodded vigorously at this. I laughed at their show of appreciation.

The limo pulled up to the front of _Eclipse_ and we all climbed out. We walked past the line of people waiting to get in and up to the bouncer, Mark, who offered me a big smile.

"Hey Bella, how's it going?"

"Good. My friends and I decided to have a little fun tonight so we decided to come here of course," I replied with a smile of my own.

"Well you guys have a good time," he said while he stepped away from the door and let us pass, whispers of "is that Bella Swan?" following us in.

"So do you guys want to dance?" Jake asked us once we were inside the club. The music was blaring and the lights were flashing which added to the special effects. We all agreed and made our way to the dance floor. Jake had his arms around Leah and me and was leading the way. Emmett and Seth were following closely behind us.

As soon as we began to dance, I noticed a leggy blonde who was eyeing Emmett with interest. He seemed to notice this too, because with one wink in our direction, he had marched over to where she was standing and succeeded in getting a dance. Seth followed his lead soon after with a pretty, little red head. This left Jake, Leah and me to our own devices. This was my chance. I could "conveniently" leave the two of them alone. Then they would have no other choice than to communicate with each other. Ha! I am brilliant, if I do say so myself.

"I'm going to get a drink at the bar," I informed Leah. She stared at me with pleading eyes. Nope, sorry you're on your own this time, I thought, smirking internally.

"Do you want me to come with you," there was an undercurrent of hope in her voice. It was so cute how shy she was around Jake. It was like she was a completely different person. I shook my head at her and smiled mischievously. She narrowed her eyes at me. Well, it looks like she caught on to my plan. Oh well.

"Just talk to him, Leah. This isn't elementary school. Trust me," I whispered, too low for Jake to hear. She swallowed, but reluctantly nodded. Jake on the other hand looked pleased with this turn of events. I smiled at Leah and gave her a gentle nudge before heading for the bar.

The bartender greeted me with a smile as I approached. I had just ordered a few tequila shots when my attention was suddenly caught by something else across the room. The guy who had just walked through the door of the club, with the painstakingly familiar blonde hair and annoyingly cocky expression was none other than my arch nemesis, Jasper fucking Whitlock.

"Holy mother of fucking ravioli! You have got to be shitting me!" I exclaimed, managing to get several odd looks from the people standing around me. I probably looked crazy, screaming obscenities out randomly, but I couldn't seem to care about that since I have a bigger problem right now in the form of an arrogant SOB.

He was adorning a cowboy hat with a pair of cowboy boots and a button down flannel shirt with faded jeans. If I was being honest with myself, I would have to admit that he looked pretty delicious in his cowboy getup. But, of course I can't think like that. I mean, I have a boyfriend and this is JASPER! My annoying ass rival and bane of my existence! What were the odds of him going to the same club as me on the same night that I had finally gotten a chance to go out on anyway? This is just my fucking luck! ARGH!

The pixie bitch, blonde bimbo (Rosalie), and Emoward (Edward) were with him also. I really didn't need this shit right now.

Okay, options. Options are always good. Let's see. I can either:

1) Grab Leah, Emmett and Seth and high-tale it out of here (although I'm pretty sure Emmett would kill me for that later, considering the way his dance partner has her legs wrapped around him and grinding against him like this is some kind of porn video. Plus I don't want to interrupt Jake and Leah. They both had started to dance to a semi upbeat song, but hey, it was a start).

2) I can try to find a way to set the smoke detectors off in here so that the whole club has to evacuate. Hmm there might be something to that one. I could possibly escape unnoticed if I create a big enough diversion. We'll come back to that one later.

Or 3) I can brave it out and stick around. That one isn't too appealing at the moment considering he is getting closer to where I am currently standing. He hasn't noticed me yet, but it's just a matter of time…

Well #2 is the most appealing, but I could just imagine the trouble that would be caused if anyone figured out it was me. The tabloids would have a field day with that one. Ah fuck it. I'm not going to let that douche run me out. This is supposed to be MY night. Okay, so #3 it is. I wonder if I can somehow avoid him though…

"Well, well Swan. Fancy seeing you here. I would have pictured running into you in more of a…hmm…recluse setting. I must say I'm surprised." Well it looks like that idea was a bust. He seemed to have left his posse behind near the dance floor. Well that's one less dreaded confrontation I had to deal with I guess.

I turned around and grimaced at him. "Stalking me now, Whitlock?" He smirked at me.

"If I had wanted to find you, I wouldn't have to _stalk_ you. All I'd have to do would be follow the thick aura of vainness that seems to follow you around wherever you go."

"Pfft, you're actually calling _me_ vain?" I looked up at him through my eyelashes, innocently.

"Hmm...It must be hard," I began, putting my finger to my chin as if in deep thought.

"What is?" he said, sounding confused.

"Being able to support that overly inflated head of yours all the time."

I turned back around and downed one of the shots that the bartender had just set down in front of me. If Jasper was here, I would definitely need more alcohol in me. Being only slightly buzzed was not acceptable tonight. I picked up another shot and downed it in the same fashion as the one previous.

Jasper sat at the bar next to me and ordered a Bourbon on the rocks. I turned and stared at him with my eyebrows raised.

"What, you don't have anything better to do on a Friday night than annoy the shit out of me?"

He smirked. "Believe it or not, but not everything is always about you. And you say _I'm _the one with an overly inflated head." He shook his head and tsked at me. "If you must know," he continued while taking a swig of his drink that he had just been handed, "I wanted to get a drink and since this is the bar area, and you happen to be here, it only makes sense that I would run into you. Annoying you is just an added bonus." He raised his drink as if in silent toast before taking another swig.

I just sat there, not willing to let him ruin my good mood. He seemed to notice my silence because he turned to look at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Speechless Swan? That has to be a first." I scoffed.

"I don't know what to say to you. I would call you an idiot, but that would just be an insult to all stupid people." I huffed as I downed another shot.

He shook his head and laughed. "Are you always this sarcastic when you drink?" He looked amused.

"Only to you it seems," I mused. If it were possible, he looked even more amused. After he had finished his drink, he ordered us a couple shots of Jack Daniels. I started to protest but he cut me off.

"You're not wimping out on me now, are you Swan?" I glared at him and knocked the shot back without answering him, wincing slightly at the strong taste. He smirked at me which only served to further annoy me.

"Are you just going to sit there and stare at me, or are you going to quit being such a pussy and take the damn shot!" I was finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a neutral tone with him, especially when he was staring at me like that. It was a little disconcerting.

He just laughed but he picked up the shot of Jack, maintaining eye contact with me, and slammed it back without so much as a grimace. Okay, I'll admit that was pretty impressive. I knocked back another shot as well. A few more shots of Jack later and I was incredibly light headed and slightly giddy.

"You look happier," Jasper noted, observing my lazy grin that I was now wearing.

"I am," I waved a hand vaguely and let it fall, limply back to my side.

"May I ask what has you so happy?"

I shrugged. "I guess I just needed a night out."

"I hear ya'," he nodded in agreement. We sat there in relative silence for a while.

"You know, I always felt bad abou' the way I treated ya the first time we met," I slurred out suddenly. My verbal filter tends to be severed when I'm drunk. Jasper seemed shocked by my revelation at first but then the indifferent mask was back on his face.

He shrugged. "I kind of enjoyed our banter throughout the years. It made life interesting." I laughed and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, 'cept I coulda done without the fishy breath during our make out scene earlier," I slurred. He laughed. I nudged his arm playfully and smiled.

"Well, as much fun as talkin' to you is, I am gonna go back out there," I pointed my thumb over my shoulder, indicating the dance floor. I stood up and swayed, feeling increasingly light headed.

"Woah there," Jasper grabbed my upper arm firmly to steady me. I was shocked at the tingle that ran through my arm at his touch. That was odd. By the look on his face, he had felt it too. "Uh thanks," I said, looking up at him. I was shocked by the civil tone of my voice directed at _him_. It must be the alcohol talking. He nodded in response. He smiled at me which I returned, much to my surprise, before I sashayed back to the dance floor.

* * *

Once I was on the dance floor, I started moving my hips to the music with my hands in my hair. I was enjoying dancing by myself when suddenly I felt a random guy grab my hips and start grinding himself into my ass. I tried pushing him away, but he tightened his hold on my hips and leaned down to whisper in my ear.

"Come on babe, one dance." I shuddered. For some reason I was getting a weird vibe.

I tried to turn around to get a good look at his face, but he kept a firm grip on my hips. I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but I have a boyfriend." He laughed.

"Well, what your boyfriend doesn't know won't hurt him." That made me see red.

"Look, I don't want to dance with you!" I all but screeched.

Suddenly, I became aware of another presence. "Hey man, she promised me a dance so if you could please extract your filthy hands from the girl I won't have to punch your face in. Deal?" A deadly calm, southern voice said from behind us. I never thought I would be so relieved to hear _his_ voice. I thought the creeper holding me would protest, but was surprised when he backed away with his hands raised instead.

"Sorry man, I didn't mean anything by it." He then turned tail and left through the crowd. I looked up at Jasper and smiled in thanks.

"You okay?" Jasper inquired.

"Uh yeah. Thanks for that." I gestured wildly in the direction of where the guy had just left.

"No problem. But what about that dance?"

I quirked an eyebrow at him. "You wanna dance with me?" I checked, slurring my words slightly.

He laughed. "I know. Surprising huh? Wow, what was in that bourbon?" He questioned seriously. I rolled my eyes at him.

"Oh! I love this song!" I exclaimed happily as _Airplanes_ by B.O.B came on. I started rolling my hips and moving to the beat of the music. Jasper stepped up and the next thing I knew, we were dancing together. It was like I had entered the twilight zone or something. I never would have guessed in a million years I would actually willingly dance with this man. I reached up and swiped his cowboy hat off his head and placed it on my own. He shook his head at me, amused.

"It looks good on you," he smiled.

"Why Jazzy," I imitated Alice's high pitch voice, "are you actually giving me a compliment?" I batted my eyelashes and smirked.

"Hmm…I guess I was." He sounded a bit shocked at this.

We danced in comfortable silence for a while, until my feet started aching.

"I better get back to my friends so they don't think I got stolen or something." We pulled apart.

Jasper laughed and nodded. "Yeah, I probably should too. See you on Monday." I nodded at him in response and turned to leave.

"Just so ya know," I turned back around to face him. "This doesn't change anything."

He smirked. "I wouldn't dream of it."

We both smiled at each other before I headed in the direction of where my friends were. As we got into the limo later, I thought about all that transpired tonight. I guess Jasper and I had finally come to some sort of demented unspoken truce. I briefly wondered if things would go back to the way they always were before this night happened. I smiled as my friends and I drove away. What a night.

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AN: So, their relationship is still a little rocky, but it's a start, right?

**I've started on the next chapter, so hopefully it will be out sometime this week. Please leave a review! Let me know what you thought about the interaction between Bella and Jasper. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**Love,**

**Katie**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! **

**This chapter was a little difficult for me to write. I was having some serious writer's block but I finally got around that. **

**I sort of correlated this chapter in with this holiday. Happy 4****th**** of July!**

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Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.

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BPOV

The first thing I became aware of when I woke up the next morning was someone pulling back the blinds in my room. The sunlight that filtered in further fueled the headache I had just become aware of. I groaned and buried my head under my pillow. Suddenly the pillow was yanked away and the comforter disappeared.

"Hey!" I bolted up in my bed and then groaned as another wave of vertigo passed over me, dropping back on my bed. Talk about a serious hangover.

"Wake up Bells! I have to tell you about last night!" Leah sounded so excited but I was trying my hardest not to empty the contents of my stomach all over the bed at the moment.

"Leah," I whined, "It's too early for this!" I said, after seeing that it was only 7:00. This was the last day I could sleep in before I had to go back to work for the week.

"I know and I'm sorry!" She said, not sounding the least bit sorry. "But I couldn't wait anymore!"

"Yeah well you weren't the one downing like a dozen shots last night, so let me go back to sleep," I complained.

"I have treats!" Leah sang mysteriously. I let out one more groan and sat up slowly. I watched as Leah reached into a bag I hadn't noticed before and pulled out the one thing that I would get up this early for. My mouth fell open as she held up the container of ice cream. "Is that Chunky Monkey?" I whispered. She nodded with a smile on her face.

"I really shouldn't have that. I mean I probably consumed at least a thousand calories with all the alcohol I had last night," I said slowly, but I couldn't hide the longing in my voice.

"Oh live a little! You can always work it off later. I'm sure Bianca will help you." I couldn't stop the smile that took over my face.

Bianca is my personal trainer. I decided to hire her to keep the tabloids happy. Pathetic, right? I mean, I shouldn't care but I do, sadly. If I were to gain two pounds it's considered obesity, but losing a couple pounds and they would call me anorexic. So far, the tabloids have painted me as "one of Hollywood's perfect bodies" and I wanted to keep it that way. I paid Bianca to keep me looking good, and that is exactly what she did. I was already at a setback after consuming all that alcohol the other night. I would definitely have to work extra hard to work those calories off.

"Alright, so tell me what happened after I left you two alone," I said, while grabbing the container of ice cream and spoon that Leah handed me. She plopped down next to me on my bed and grinned widely. She rattled on for at least an hour…okay maybe I'm exaggerating a little. It was so cute how she described all of the little details, even including facial expressions into her description. She explained to me how once they got over the awkwardness at first, Jake asked her to dance. After that they struck up an easy conversation.

"And then he asked if I wanted to go to dinner with him tonight," Leah finished excitedly.

"Just the two of you?" I asked, happily.

She nodded. "This is great!" I paused and looked at her skeptically.

"You'll have to tell me where you two are going so I can dress and make you up accordingly!" Leah groaned and opened her mouth to protest but snapped it shut at the sight of my glare.

"Don't you even think about fighting me on this. You already know who will win if you do," I stated, sternly. She sighed but nodded reluctantly.

"This is so exciting!" I squealed. "It's your guys' first date! Wait a second!" Leah jumped at my outburst.

"This means I won the bet!" She laughed and rolled her eyes. I plunged the spoon in the container of ice cream. I hummed and closed my eyes in appreciation.

"Mmmm…I swear I just had an orgasm in my mouth!" She laughed and rolled her eyes at me.

"So what did you do when you abandoned me?"

I pointed the spoon at her. "Hey, it worked didn't it?" She nodded with that same smile on her face.

"Anyway, I ran into Jasper at the bar." She gasped.

"Oh no, what did you do to him this time?" I frowned at her.

"Why do you always assume I'm the one who causes the problems when it comes to Jasper?" She gave me a knowing look.

"I only put the laxative in his water bottle once!" I stated, in my defense. "Although that was some funny shit," I snickered. "He couldn't leave the studio's bathroom for three hours! It was a good thing he didn't drink it until after we had finished filming for the day." I laughed to myself at the memory.

She shook her head, amused. "So what happened?" I then recounted the events of the previous night for her.

* * *

"Wait wait _wait_! So, let me get this straight. You actually had a semi civil conversation with Jasper?" She asked incredulously, once I had finished talking.

Leah couldn't seem to comprehend this fact. I nodded and watched as her eyes grew to the size of saucers.

"You were nice?" I nodded. "To Jasper?" She inquired. I nodded again.

"And you _danced_ with him?" She asked disbelievingly.

I shrugged. "Well, there were a few rough patches, but we parted on decent terms I guess."

Leah's mouth gaped open. "Wow, I guess miracles do exist," she stated wondrously.

I laughed. "We were both pretty intoxicated though, so maybe that was a contributing factor." She nodded at this.

"Anyway, Paul's birthday is coming up so I ended up following Tanya's advice and booking a presidential suite at the Hotel de Crillon in Paris." That effectively changed the subject. Leah wrinkled her nose at the mention of Paul. I continued on as if I hadn't noticed her blatant distaste for my boyfriend.

"The only thing I have left to do is book the plane tickets. I was also thinking about taking him to the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate the 4th of July. There are supposed to be live singers and then a fireworks show. He could definitely use a break. He's been working too hard."

Leah looked down thoughtfully. "Hmm I didn't give much thought to the 4th of July. Maybe Jake and I could come with you guys?" Leah looked at me in silent question.

"Of course you can come! I'm sure Paul wouldn't mind, but you and Jake need to behave and stop shooting daggers at him every time he's around me." I glared at her as I said that. She put her hands up in a sign of surrender.

"Alright, I guess I can be civil to him for one night."

* * *

The following days were a whirlwind. Jasper and I fell back into our easy banter, but it was more teasing than anything. Everyone at the studio seemed surprised that we haven't been at each others' throats as much. He was still an arrogant ass in my opinion, but at least we were getting along somewhat better now.

I had also booked Paul and me two first class tickets for his birthday surprise trip to France. We would arrive in Detroit, Michigan where we would have to hurry on to a connecting flight which would take us the rest of the way to Paris. I wasn't too thrilled about that part, but it was the best I could do on such short notice, considering we would be leaving in about two weeks. Not to mention the cost of the tickets was insane, but it would be so worth it to see his expression when I surprised him with this trip.

I already talked to his boss about this and he readily agreed to give Paul some time off. I think his boss was more astonished to meet me and would have agreed to just about anything when I come to think about it…

Before I knew it, it was finally the 4th of July. I had talked to Paul about going to the Hollywood Bowl and he agreed. He kept trying to back out, saying that he had a lot of work to do, but I wouldn't take no for an answer. He seriously needed to get out and away from his laptop.

Leah had spent the night at my place. We were going to hit the shops to find the perfect outfits for tonight. She had (grudgingly) agreed to let me do her makeup and hair again. We were currently in my room, while I flipped through one of my fashion magazines trying to get a good idea about a hairstyle for tonight.

Leah cleared her throat suddenly, startling me out of my thoughts. I looked up at her to see her staring at me and cocking her head to the side.

"Why are you scratching your coochie?" Leah asked me. I hadn't even been aware that I was doing that until she mentioned it. It was at that point when I noticed how unbearably itchy it was. What was going on?

"I don't know, but it really itches!" I said. This is odd.

She gave me a weird look but I ignored it.

"I should probably get dressed so we can go," I said as I noticed I was still in my boy shorts and tank top I had worn to bed. I grabbed a change of clothes and headed to the bathroom. I decided to take a quick shower before getting ready. I had just got undressed and was about to step in the shower when I looked up into the mirror. What I saw caused me to scream.

Suddenly there was pounding on the door. "Bella are you alright?" Leah asked, sounding worried. I wrapped a towel around me and opened the door.

"I could have sworn I saw something moving down there," I gestured in the direction of my vagina. I felt as if I was on the verge of a panic attack. Maybe I'm going crazy…

"Let me get this straight, your cooch itches and there was movement?" Leah asked, breaking me out of my current level of hysteria. I nodded, not sure where she was going with this.

She paused and bit her lip. "Uh Bells, maybe you should go get checked out at the Gyno."

I looked at her, and then it sunk in. "You think I have crabs?" I asked.

She shrugged. "I don't know for sure but it sounds like you just described it."

"But that's impossible!" I protested. "I haven't had sex with anyone besides Paul!" A look of anger crossed her face for a moment before she quashed it. I wonder what that was about.

"Look, I don't know for sure but just in case, you should go get checked out."

"But, what about our shopping trip?" She had started shaking her head before I had finished asking the question.

"This is more important. Besides, you practically have your very own mall of clothes in your closet that we can choose from."

I nodded. "Okay, I'll go see if I can get my gyno to come into her office now even though it's a holiday."

* * *

An hour later, after I had called in a few favors, I found myself sitting on the bed at Karen, my gyno's, office. She was staring at me, waiting for me to say something I assume. I stared at her dumbly. I don't think shocked would be a strong enough word to describe my current state. It had rendered me utterly speechless when Karen confirmed Leah's suspicions about me having crabs. This is just my luck. I normally get Brazilian waxes every month but since I have been pretty busy lately I have been putting it off.

"But I don't understand!" I said suddenly. "The only guy I have been having sex with is my boyfriend of three years!" The doctor looked at me with her eyebrows raised, wearing a sympathetic expression. That's strange. Why would she be sympathetic? I thought back to the anger I saw on Leah's face when I had discussed this with her earlier. And then I finally understood.

"He's been cheating on me," I whispered to myself, unable to fully believe that he would do that to me. Karen cleared her throat, looking uncomfortable.

She stood up. She then proceeded to explain to me how to treat my little problem. She told me that as long as I follow her instructions properly, the lice should be gone in about two weeks. (**AN: I looked that up, so hopefully it's right lol**).

I nodded dumbly, not being able to fully comprehend my current situation. I sat there in a haze. Two words kept being played in my head on repeat, "Paul" and "cheat." When Karen had finished going over the treatment procedure I would have to do, I got up and walked out of the doctor's office, heading to the one person I needed answers from.

* * *

I slipped the key, that Paul had given me, out of my purse and unlocked his door. I pushed it open and entered his house. I didn't see any sign of him but I knew he was here. His car was parked outside. Maybe he was in his office, working like always.

After I had left the doctor's office, I had calmed down somewhat. I took a few hours to get my head sorted out so that I could think clearly. I came to the conclusion that I probably overreacted. I mean, you don't necessarily have to have sexual contact to get crabs. He might have gotten it at the gym from using a towel that may not have been fully cleaned or something. That thought was pretty gross but it might have happened…

I mean, I have been dating him for three years and he never gave me reason to question him. Now, I felt horrible for even doubting him for a minute. I just needed to talk to him and tell him he should get checked out for crabs also. I would be late to the festival tonight, but hopefully Paul and I could join Leah and Jake for the fireworks show later.

I peeked into his office, but he wasn't there. It was then that I heard a thud from upstairs. Smiling to myself, I made my way up the stairs. I heard some noises coming from his bedroom and reached up my hand to open the door but stopped as if the knob had burnt my hand. There was an unmistakable moan coming from inside the room. That was definitely not his voice, unless he had suddenly relapsed into his prepubescent phase. That voice was too high…

I slowly pushed open the door and gasped as I saw something that made me want to gouge out my own eyes. There on his bed, where I had spent countless nights, was Paul on top of some naked woman. At the sound of my gasp, both of their heads whipped up. Paul's expression was one of horror as the woman looked almost smug.

Paul quickly got off the bed and threw on some pants. He started towards me, but stopped when I held a hand up to him. The woman was slowly getting dressed and was gazing at me with a triumphant smirk. I looked back at Paul, unable to stop the hurt expression from taking over my face. I willed myself not to break down in front of him. I didn't want to give him the satisfaction.

"How long?" I whispered. He looked away from my accusing eyes.

"How long?" I repeated, in a stronger voice. He hesitated.

"I've been seeing Maria for about a month," he answered back.

The fact that he didn't answer my question directly wasn't lost on me.

I shook my head as I fought to keep the tears at bay. "No, how long have you been cheating on me? How many others were there?"

He looked down and avoided my eyes.

"Don't you love me or was that all a lie too?"

His head shot up. "Of course I loved you!"

"Loved?" I whispered, hating that my voice broke on the word. He opened his mouth to reply but stopped as Maria strode up to him after finally putting on some clothes. She smirked at me and flipped her black hair over her shoulder.

"Of course he doesn't love you. He only stayed around so you could get him more well-known with his work. That's all you were good for."

"Maria!" Paul yelled. "Bella it wasn't like that." He stepped forward with his arms outstretched as if he wanted to hug me. I backed away from him wearing a disgusted expression.

"Is this what you did when you had to "work" all the time?" I looked at him when he didn't even try to deny it. "And here I was thinking you needed a break from all the hard work you were so busy with." I gave a short, humorless laugh at this. "I didn't realize what kind of work you were actually doing." I looked at this Maria person and then back to him.

"It's over Paul. I don't want to see or hear from you anymore." Those words caused a lump to build in my throat and I felt as if a part of me had died. I turned and started to walk away from him but stopped.

"I came here to tell you to get checked for crabs. I guess I now understand how I got it." Before he could say anything else, I turned on my heel and ran, finally releasing the multitude of tears I had been repressing.

In the distance, I heard the sound of fireworks going off. Happy fucking 4th of July, I thought to myself as I ran down the street and away from my heart.

**AN: Sorry there wasn't any of Jasper in this chapter, but this one was important. I promise he'll be in the next one. Things should also be picking up soon. **

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts! You guys are awesome! **

**I enjoyed writing this chapter. It will have more of Jake, Emmett and Seth in it because I think I have been neglecting them. It will also have Jasper. :D**

**I also decided to post another story. It will be another Bella/Jasper one. The first chapter is up now. It's called "I Tried so Very Hard Not to Lose it." I named the story after a line in the song, **_**Haven't Met You Yet**_**, by Michael Bubl****é****. It may seem a little depressing in the beginning, but it will pick up. I will be switching off between the two stories for updates.**

**Summary of new story: Jasper Whitlock makes a bet with his friends regarding the new student Bella Swan. But, what Jasper doesn't know is Bella is trying to get past the tragedy that happened to her back in her hometown. AH**

**If it is something that you might want to read, and you haven't already, go check it out! The link is on my profile. **

**Anyway, sorry for the long Author's note. Here's the next chapter!**

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Stephanie Meyer does.**

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"That's it! I won't let you waste away like this. Now get up!" Jake's booming voice bellowed close to my head.

I was lying in the fetal position on my bed pretty much feeling sorry for myself. A week has passed since I caught Paul cheating on me and in that time, I have pretty much been a zombie. I have only been going to the studio to work and then going home to mope some more.

My friends have been taking turns trying to cheer me up, but it's a hopeless case in my opinion. There is nothing that can cheer me up considering the fact that my 3 year relationship is over. It was now a Saturday morning but I had no intentions of getting up. Maybe I can watch some more re-runs of _One_ _Tree Hill_ in my room in the meantime. I can now completely relate to Brooke when Lucas cheats on her with Peyton. Ugh. Boys.

The people at the studio seemed to notice that something is wrong with me as well.

Maybe it's the fact that the makeup artist has to use even more makeup on me to cover up the dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. I have also taken to holding ice cubes under my eyes to try and get rid of the bags that have formed (**AN: that actually works. When I was pulling all of my all nighters during finals I did that. It's uncomfortable but it works**). I have been having trouble sleeping because whenever I close my eyes, I see that Maria chick lying naked under my recent ex-boyfriend.

Or maybe it has to do with my mini breakdown on set when I had to act out this romantic scene with Jasper. We had to take a break for about a half an hour before I was calm enough to continue filming. I think the director, Scott, was a little annoyed at me but he didn't say anything to me about it, to which I was thankful. Even Jasper has been easing off the sarcasm and teasing lately. Wow. I must really be a pathetic case if _Jasper_ is feeling sorry for me. I was brought out of my thoughts by Jake's loud voice.

"Either you get up, or I am going to make you get up," he said threateningly.

He was probably bluffing. I groaned and rolled over on my bed, hiding my tearstained face under my pillow. Maybe he will go away if he thinks I'm sleeping…

"AHH!" I yelled suddenly, as I was pulled off the bed and dumped unceremoniously on the floor.

"What the fuck Jake?" I glared up at him, but he was too busy bent over laughing his ass off.

"I warned you," he chortled.

He looked up at me and his expression suddenly changed. He took stock of my blood shot, puffy eyes and red nose. Not to mention my hair probably looked like a haystack.

"Woah! You look like shit!"

I pulled myself up off the floor and frowned at him. "Thanks for the sensitivity," I said, sarcastically.

He shrugged but otherwise ignored my remark. His joking expression suddenly turned into a serious one.

"Look Bella, I have been watching you beat yourself up this past week over your breakup. I know you're hurt, but you can't let Paul do this to you. I mean, you have practically turned into the swamp thing!" He pretended to shield his eyes from the ghastly sight that was my face. Then in a softer tone, "he's not worth it Bells." He wiped the tears from my eyes and gave me a smile. "Now go get dressed. I'm taking you somewhere today, just the two of us like old times. It's time to cause some havoc."

I looked at him questioningly. "Where are we going?"

He grinned. "It's a surprise. Now go get ready! We're leaving in an hour." He shooed me out of my room and in the direction of the bathroom.

* * *

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked while eyeing the cord nervously.

Jake boomed a laugh. "Where's the Bella Swan that jumped off cliffs without a second thought?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "This is a bit different than that. Besides, if you haven't forgotten, I almost drowned that time." He shrugged, unfazed by my comment.

"Yeah, but this time we have some highly trained and skilled people with us." I stared at him unconvinced.

"You worry too much! Would I ever have you do something if I thought it would harm you?" I snorted in a very unladylike way.

"What about the time you took me paintballing and I got hit in the kneecap? I couldn't walk without a limp for a week."

"Well-"

"Or, do you remember the time I broke my wrist when you took me rock climbing?"

"Yeah but-"

"And what about that time I ended up in the hospital with a concussion after I fell off my surf board and it hit me in the head when you tried to teach me how to surf during high tide?"

"Okay! I understand there were some…err…bad endings to some of the stunts that we've done in the past, but this is different! Trust me. It's just what you need to forget about what's his name."

I looked over the side of the bridge nervously. Jake's brilliant plan to help me forget about _him_ was to take me bungee jumping. I guess it was working, considering how much I was worrying that the cord would break at some point during the jump. It seemed that this was actually taking my mind off of the whole betrayal thing. I guess I could give this a chance…

I sighed and nodded to Jake. A wide smile broke out across his face which made me smile in return.

"There's the Bella I know!" He wrapped one of his huge arms around my shoulders and ruffled my hair playfully, causing me to laugh.

"Alright, but if I die I'm haunting your ass!" I said threateningly. He rolled his eyes at me but laughed.

"Fair enough," he chuckled.

* * *

I swallowed nervously as a guy, I think his name was Steven, stepped up and fastened the harness around me and secured the cord around my legs. I had just witnessed Jake doing this. He thought that it would ease my mind if I saw him jump first, but now I was completely petrified. The way he fell and then got yanked back up by the cord and was dangling there and all made me want to run as far away as I could. I somehow managed to stop myself from bolting though.

I closed my eyes and stepped up to the edge of the bridge. I made the mistake of letting my curiosity get the better of me and looked down. Oh God! That must be at least a 100 meter drop! I think I'm going to be sick… I could feel the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I anticipated the jump. Without giving myself the opportunity to back down, I took a deep breath and flung myself off the bridge.

I could feel the air rushing toward me as I plummeted. My stomach just about leaped into my throat but I didn't care about that. I let out a scream, but what shocked me was that it wasn't a scream of fear. It was a scream of exhilaration. I could feel my heart becoming erratic as the excitement of the jump took over.

Jake was right. This was indescribable. The word "fun" would be a serious understatement. I was also stunned at the way it made me feel. I hadn't thought about Paul at all during the time I was anticipating the jump and I sure as hell wasn't thinking about him now as I hung upside down. I felt a smile spread across my face as I hung there. I heard Jake cheering off in the distance somewhere. I waited as a guy in a boat zoomed over and unfastened the cord, allowing me to get down.

I couldn't believe how incredible that was. That's why Jake is my best friend. He knows just what to do to make me feel better. He wasn't the type of guy to sit there and talk me through my post-breakup phase. He was more of a "going out and having fun to forget about your troubles" kind of guy. Whenever we would hang out, we would do the craziest things. That was just how our relationship was. He always made me feel carefree when we hung out.

Leah and he would be great together as a couple. They both have a way about themselves that just makes you happy when around them.

Once I was back on land, I ran over to Jake and gave him a big hug.

"Thanks Jake! I guess I did need to do this after all."

He laughed and ruffled my hair. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. Are you ready to go back home? I have a date with Leah later tonight and I need to get ready." I couldn't help but laugh at the shy way he said the last part. I nodded and we set off for home.

* * *

After Jake dropped me back off at my house, he left to get ready for his date. I decided to get some work done, so I began going over my lines for the next episode we were filming. I stopped when I heard someone knock.

When I answered the door I saw Seth standing there. "Hey Bells, mind if I come in?"

Seth is pretty much the only one out of my friends who doesn't just walk in. I gave them each a spare key, but I guess Seth finds it more polite to just knock first. I gave him a smile and motioned him inside.

"You know you don't have to knock Seth." He shrugged and smiled back.

"It looks like you're feeling better," he said, glancing at me.

"I am. Jake was here earlier and took me bungee jumping."

Seth visibly shuddered. "I don't know how you guys do stuff like that," he said while shaking his head in awe.

"Anyway, I just dropped by to see how you were doing." We both sat facing each other on the couch.

"Look, I know you probably don't want to talk about what happened but I just wanted you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need to talk or if you just need someone to hang with."

Seth was a sweetheart. He was probably the quietest in our little group, but you knew you could count on him to always have your back.

"Thanks Seth. I really appreciate that." I gave his hand a squeeze and smiled at him.

"I know I was kind of dead to the world for the past few days, but it means a lot to me that you all were there for me, even if I wasn't the best company during that time."

He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by the phone ringing. I gave him an apologetic look before going to answer it.

"Hey Bella," the voice on the phone said.

"Emmett?" I questioned.

"Yeah, hey listen, I need your help." Oh no. This doesn't sound good.

"With what?" I asked slowly.

"I'm in jail," he said triumphantly, as if it was some major accomplishment.

"What?" I screeched.

"I said I'm in jail," he replied back calmly.

"I heard what you said dipshit! But, would you mind telling me why you are there in the first place? If this has to do with you hanging your ass out of the car's window and mooning passing cop cars and singing _Kumbaya_ when they pulled you over again, I swear to God-" I was cut off by his booming laughter.

"Hey, Jake dared me to do it…" he said, as if that justified his actions. "But, this is for a different reason. I think I learned my lesson after I was tasered last time." I could almost picture him wincing on his end of the phone line.

"Anyway, I need to get to the point before they tell me my times up. So anyway, apparently it's illegal to break into a guy's apartment and pummel him to a pulp even if it was highly justified."

I opened my mouth but no sound came out. I think this is what it feels like to be in shock…

"You beat some guy up?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't seem to grasp this. Emmett was never one for violence. He's like a big teddy bear.

"Not just any guy. That fucking douchebag you call Paul. No one messes with my little sister," he growled, all signs of lightheartedness gone. It was a little weird to hear Emmett sound so angry. I guess his protective older brother instincts were kicking in. Even though we aren't really related, he treats me like the little sister he never had. It took me a moment for his words to sink in.

"Did he call the cops on you?" I asked, still in shock.

"Nope. His neighbors apparently heard "some girl screaming and crying." One guess who that was." The image that Emmett provided entered my mind and before I knew it I was bent over laughing my ass off. God I love my friends. I could always count on them to be there for me. A few days ago I may have broke down after hearing about Paul, so I was surprised that I was able to laugh about this.

Once I was calm enough, I wiped the tears of laughter out of my eyes and refocused on the conversation I was having with Emmett. I could hear him laughing triumphantly on the other end.

"I'll be there soon to get you," I told him and then hung up.

"Hey Seth, I need to go bail Emmett out of jail. You want to come?" I asked as I grabbed my car keys.

Seth sighed and nodded as if he had expected something like this to happen. He stood up and we left to go retrieve Emmett.

* * *

After my friends' intervention of sorts and dishing out a couple thousand dollars for Emmett's bail, the week went by with me repeatedly treating the crab infestation issue. Every time I would catch sight of some sort of movement, I would freak out and jump around wringing my hands as if I was performing some rendition of the potty dance. It thoroughly grossed me out, thinking of little bug like creatures having a party in my vagina. EW!

I also am happy to say that I haven't received any more of those twisted notes recently. I guess Jasper finally gave up. No matter how much I didn't want to admit it, it was starting to freak me out a bit.

I was now at the studio after having just filmed for the day, so I headed back to my dressing room with a smile. Ever since my friends intervened in my self-depreciation stage, I have been a lot happier. I mean, of course it still hurts to think about _him_, but I know that at least I am beginning to heal.

I felt completely lighthearted as I opened the door to my dressing room. However, the smile dropped off my face as soon as I stepped into my room. I guess I spoke too soon in regards of the notes, seeing as how another one was sitting there on the table with a rose.

I rolled my eyes. Not this _again_! I thought Jasper would be done with his stupid prank by now! I stormed over to the table and yanked the note off to see what it said:

_Roses are red_

_You deserve to be worshipped every day._

_The way Paul treated you angers me,_

_I'll make sure that he will pay._

I stared at the note with my mouth gaping open. That was just low of Jasper to bring Paul up in this feeble prank. I vaguely wondered how he knew about what happened with Paul considering I only talked to my close friends about it to avoid this ending up as a story in the tabloids. But, I shrugged it off as my anger got the better of me. I stormed out of my room to go looking for that annoying creature with noodles for brains.

I waltzed right up to said creature and shoved the rose in his face. "Will you stop with the pathetic roses?"

He raised his eyebrows. "I don't know what you're talking about," he stated acting all innocent.

"What the fuck do you mean you don't know what I'm talking about? You have been sneaking these goddamned roses into my room and I want it to stop!"

"You know, I think I like you better drunk." He smirked at me which only served to irritate me further.

"Besides, I haven't been "sneaking" into your room," he replied using air quotes around the word sneaking, "although I wish I had been the one to think it up considering how much it seems to be pissing you off. Kudos to whomever it is though." He smirked.

"Besides why the hell would I be wastin' my time buying you roses?" Jasper quirked an eyebrow at me.

"So you weren't the one leaving roses and little notes in my dressing room?" I questioned disbelievingly.

He just stared at me. I huffed and turned to leave, when he grabbed my wrist. I turned around and looked at him questioningly. I was taken aback by the expression on his face. He almost looked worried. Nah, it was probably just my imagination.

"Notes?" I nodded.

"What did they say?" He inquired.

I shook my head and gave a short laugh, although truthfully I was now a little disturbed. I didn't want to tell him how bothered I was knowing he wasn't behind the notes. I couldn't think of anyone else who could possibly know about the Paul fiasco. I know my friends wouldn't joke about something like this… I realized that I hadn't answered Jasper's question yet and he was staring at me with an odd look.

"They are like the ones in the show. I thought you were trying to spook me or something."

His expression didn't change but there was some emotion in his eyes that I couldn't decipher.

"Can I see them?"

"They're nothing. It's probably just some overly zealous fan. They aren't the first weird fan letters I've received." I felt like I was trying to convince myself as I said this.

"But you said they were left in your dressing room?"

I shrugged and quirked an eyebrow. "What's with the twenty questions?"

He hesitated and looked away briefly before looking back down at me. I was caught off guard with the sudden intense emotions swimming in his eyes. I found that I couldn't look away from them for the life of me. It was like they were sucking me into some sort of vortex or something.

"Just be careful, okay?" I nodded dumbly, considering the fact that speech was not a possibility for me at the moment. I turned around and walked away from him in a daze. What just happened?

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AN: Yup. A lot of you guessed right. It wasn't Jasper leaving the notes in her room, so who is it? Dun dun dun…(sorry, couldn't resist lol).

**Things are going to start picking up soon! **

**Please review!**

**Love,**

**Katie**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: I am so so so sorry for the wait! I went on vacation this past week to Florida. My family and I even went to see the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. It was so much fun. To those of you who haven't gone, I highly recommend it. It was so cool (especially the dragon rollercoaster)! Although the lines were ridiculous…**

**Anyway sorry for the delay…Here's chapter 6!**

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Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.

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BPOV

I looked at the tickets that were lying on my dresser. I couldn't bring myself to pick them up. I remember how happy I was when I had bought them. Everything was just fine and dandy. I always thought we were meant to be together. Well that notion was a load of shit.

I was sickened at myself for being so oblivious all these years. Even though I was beginning to get over his betrayal, it still hurt. I've never experience a broken heart before, and let me just say, it is incredibly hard to get over. Sure I had dated before him, but they were mostly flings. What I had with Paul was different. At least I thought it was.

"Bella, what are you looking at?" I snapped out of my inner turmoil at the sound of Leah's voice. I looked up to see her and Jake standing in the doorway to my room. They both smiled at me when I looked at them.

"Sorry, we let ourselves in when you didn't answer the door. We were pounding on it for the last ten minutes." Huh, I guess I was really out of it.

"What were you staring at so intently when we came in?" Jake asked, stepping into my bedroom. I looked pointedly at the dresser where the plane tickets I was going to surprise Paul with resided. They both followed my gaze before realization flashed across their faces. They both had known about the surprise trip I had been planning.

Jake gave me a concerned glance. I had a feeling he was worried I would fall into another downward spiral because of this reminder of Paul. However, I only felt a slight ache now, versus the crushing pain I probably would have felt earlier. I looked back at Leah and Jake thoughtfully.

"Have you guys ever wanted to go to France?" I asked suddenly. They both exchanged a look before looking back at me. I continued on when they didn't answer me.

"I was thinking that you two should take these tickets. The hotel in Paris is already paid for."

I saw excitement flash behind Leah's eyes but she quickly quashed it. I knew her well enough to know she was probably thinking how she didn't want to take advantage of my bad situation.

"Oh Bella that's okay. You paid for them, you should go." I looked at her and shook my head sadly.

"I don't have any use for them anymore. Besides, I can't exactly get a refund for these, so you guys would actually be doing me a favor."

As the words left my mouth, I found myself pulled into a bone crushing hug courtesy of Jake. I laughed as he swung me around before setting me down and giving me a huge smile.

"I'll take that as a yes," I laughed as Jake nodded vigorously. Leah was staring longingly at the tickets but looked back at me hesitantly.

"Are you sure?" Leah asked while biting her lip, trying to hide her building excitement. I nodded my head at her question.

"Like I said, you two would be doing me a favor. Besides, I couldn't think of anyone better to give them to."

Leah squealed in a very uncharacteristic way for her. She threw her arms around me and proceeded to squeeze the life out of me. I could practically feel myself turning red from lack of oxygen.

Once an amused Jake had managed to pry her off of me, I gave them the information they would need to know concerning their trip to Paris. I was happy with myself for thinking of giving them the tickets. It was obvious that they had never gone on such an extravagant vacation and I was glad I was the one to be able to give this gift to them.

* * *

A couple days have passed since I gave Leah and Jake the tickets. They had to hurry to take care of their business and pack since the flight was soon after I had given the tickets to them. They are now in France and will be there for another week. Leah keeps texting me and filling me in on all the sites the two of them have gone to so far. I'm just happy they are putting the trip to good use. Although, it feels weird without the two of them around here right now. Emmett and Seth have been keeping me company but it's not the same without the two of them.

Giving the tickets away made me realize there was something I still needed to do. Once I had gotten rid of that reminder, I felt as if a burden had been lifted. This is the reason I now found myself with three boxes sitting at my feet.

I decided it was about time I get rid of the constant reminder of Paul in my house, so I spent the last few hours throwing his junk in the boxes. I figured I could drop his stuff off at his house after I was finished at the studio today.

The boxes were filled with everything imaginable. They contained his CDs, books, the necklace he gave me for my last birthday, his toiletries from when he would spend the night, and a lot of other junk that I just wanted out of here.

To me, getting rid of his stuff was symbolism of me moving on with my life. By dropping off his stuff at his place I would show him that I am over him and he didn't break me. That thought made me feel better. I wouldn't let him keep me down. I have family and friends that care about me, as well as my fans. It was time to move on.

With renewed determination, I began loading the boxes into the trunk of my car. I made a promise to myself that I would stop by his place after filming today and drop off his shit. I would not chicken out. I hopped into my car to head for the studio.

* * *

"Aaannddd cut!" Scott yelled to signal the end of the scene we had been filming. I was wrapped around Jasper after an intense make out scene for the show. We both disentangled ourselves from each other. Normally I would be running to the bathroom to gargle after swapping spit with him, but I wasn't as grossed out as I normally would have been. That's odd.

The others on set headed to the refreshment bar when Scott announced our lunch break. I started heading toward the door when Jasper stepped in front of me. I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"Where are you goin'?" I stared at him like he had grown two heads.

"Not that it's any of your business but I'm going to Starbucks." I tried to step around him when what he said next stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Mind if I come with you?" Okay that was the last thing I expected him to say. I looked at him again. Was he serious? He noticed the bewildered look I was giving him and smirked.

"Don't think too hard on it. I want to get out for a bit and thought you might want some company." He shrugged.

My head was spinning. On one hand it would be nice to have someone coming with me. Leah and I normally go to Starbucks on these lunch breaks, but since she isn't here right now I would be going alone. But on the other hand, this is Jasper! This is the guy I am supposed to hate with every fiber of my being. The fact that he would willingly come with me had me reeling. It's like the world has gone topsy turvy or something.

"What's the catch?" I asked suspiciously.

Maybe this was some kind of trick. He would get me to put my guard down and then something embarrassing would happen to me and Ashton Kutcher would walk out saying I had been Punk'd. I could just imagine the gloating Jasper and his Posse would be doing after that.

Jasper laughed at my question.

"There's no catch. I swear, no insults." He sounded so sincere, but he was also an actor. He knew how to…well….act. He could be planning something…or I could just be getting paranoid. Ugh! I sound pathetic! I gave a frustrated sigh and shrugged.

"It's a free country," I said over my shoulder as I began to walk away. I caught sight of the evil pixie who was standing over at the refreshment bar. She gave Jasper a perplexed look before glaring at me when she caught me looking at her. I rolled my eyes and headed for the exit.

I heard him chuckle as he followed me out of the studio.

I glanced over at him as we stepped out into the blinding sun. We made our way toward the Starbucks on the corner of the street in silence. Every now and then we would glance at each other. Sometimes when this would happen he would open his mouth as if he was going to say something only to snap it closed the next moment. Well this isn't awkward… (Note the sarcasm).

Once we reached the door to heaven, aka Starbucks, he opened the door and motioned for me to go in. I stopped and looked at him quizzically. He was opening doors for me now? He chuckled and scratched the back of his neck nervously when he saw my expression.

"I'm just being nice," he said in response to my questioning look.

I gave him another look. Jasper, nice? Pfft. Is he planning on acting all nice and then as I step up to the door he'll close it in my face and laugh? Wow I really _am_ becoming paranoid. I shook my head at myself and walked through the door with Jasper following close behind.

I ignored him as I went up to the counter and ordered my usual iced soy latte. I decided to get a blueberry scone once I felt and heard my stomach give an embarrassing rumble. Once I had paid, I went off to the side to wait for my drink. Jasper soon joined me after he ordered. We stood in awkward silence while we waited. I was really starting to wonder what this was about. He wouldn't be standing here with me unless he had a reason, right?

The awkward silence was starting to annoy me. Normally we would banter back and forth when we were around each other, but now that we were trying to be civil, things were just _weird_. It's like we didn't know what to say to each other without throwing insults. Our orders came up soon and we grabbed a table. I nibbled on my scone while I waited for him to say _something_. I refused to be the one to break the silence. After all, he's the one that wanted to come with me in the first place.

He opened and closed his mouth a few more times before he gave a frustrated sigh and set his drink back down on the table.

"You were right," he began as he looked at my face. I stared at him blankly.

"There was another motive why I wanted to come with you," he elaborated. I tensed at this. What could he be up to now? He laughed when he saw my reaction.

"Relax, it's nothing bad." I stared at him warily as I continued to nibble on my scone.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about that night at _Eclipse._" I groaned at the reminder of how drunk I was in front of him that night. He laughed but continued on, refusing to be deterred.

"When we were in the club and talkin' civily, it got me thinkin.'" I laughed.

"Oh no! No good can come from you thinking," I said in mock horror. He raised his eyebrows at me. I bit my lip and gave him a sheepish look.

"Sorry, bad habits die hard I guess." He chuckled and shook his head.

"Anyway," he began in that same serious tone that was so unlike him. "I started thinking," he raised his eyebrows at me as if testing if I was going to interrupt again. He continued when I bit my lip and looked down. "Things may have gotten a little out of hand over the years." I snorted at this but shut up when Jasper gave me an annoyed look with a hint of amusement.

"As I was sayin', I have been noticing how annoyed Scott and the others are getting when we are constantly at each other's throats." I stared at him, not knowing where he was going with this.

"So, in order to save our jobs and the sanity of the others, what do you say? Truce?" He held out his hand over the table. Well Jasper was just full of surprises today. That was the last thing I thought he would say. He waited patiently while I deliberated. I hesitated but finally reached my hand out and took his.

"Truce," I agreed.

"You know, I was pretty drunk that night." Jasper laughed at this and I mock glared. He put his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"What I meant to say is that even though I was drunk, I meant what I said." He looked confused so I decided to elaborate.

"I meant it when I said that I felt bad for treating you that way the first time we met." He looked shocked at my confession.

"I had planned to go up to you and apologize after that but I didn't get the chance when you insulted me about only getting the job because of who my dad is." He looked slightly ashamed of this reminder.

"I guess we both messed up huh?" I nodded my head and laughed.

"So what does this truce thing entail?" I asked skeptically. He looked at me thoughtfully.

"No more pranks." I nodded enthusiastically at this. I don't think I've ever screamed so much as the time he snuck a tarantula into my dressing room. I shuddered at the memory.

"No more insults," he continued. I pouted.

"But that's no fun!" He laughed.

"Alright, how's this…no insults out of spite?" I sighed but nodded in agreement.

"So does this mean we're friends?" I asked hesitantly. "Woah that sounded weird for me to say."

He shrugged. "I guess we could try to be friends and see how it works out."

I laughed at his businesslike tone. I guess in a way this was for business. I could just imagine the producers getting annoyed with us and trying to think of a way to replace the main characters on _Blue Skies._ I guess it has been done before with other TV shows…

In a way I was happy we came to some sort of understanding. I always prided myself in giving my all when I got a part. When Jasper and I started this whole fighting thing, I felt as if it was interfering with my concentration and I didn't like that feeling. I'm just happy that we agreed to put an end to it finally.

After establishing this truce, we continued to enjoy our lunch break in a more comfortable silence before we had to head back to the studio. On the way out of Starbucks, Jasper held open the door for me again. This was going to take a while to get used to…

* * *

After what I can only conclude as an odd day, I hopped into my car after we had finished filming. It was then that I remembered the boxes sitting in the trunk of my car. With restored determination, I headed on my way to Paul's house so that I could finally get rid of his junk once and for all. The closer I got, the more nervous I became. AHH what is wrong with me? I can't believe I am actually nervous about seeing the guy that screwed me over. _He_ should be the one nervous to see _me_. I mean I'm Bella fucking Swan!

With renewed vigor, I sped the last block to his house and turned into his neighborhood. Right away I realized something wasn't right. As I got closer to his place, I became aware of flashing lights and a crowd which had formed in the street near his home.

Once I pulled the car up as close as I could get to his place, without running over the crowd of people, I saw police tape roping off his house. Instantly I forgot about my anger as concern took hold of me. I know this was my lying and cheating ex-boyfriend, but it didn't mean I wanted him hurt or something.

I hurriedly put my car in park and jumped out. I raced up to his house and gawked at the scene before me. There were about six cop cars and two ambulances on the street and driveway of his house. I tried to pass through the police tape only to be restrained by an officer.

"Mamn you can't come in here," the gruff voice of the cop informed me.

"What happened?" My voice was shaky as I dreaded his answer. He stared down at me with a sympathetic expression.

"Did you know the people who lived here?" I briefly wondered what he meant when he said 'people'. The only person living here was Paul…unless he meant Maria. Maybe he asked her to move in with him. That thought made me angry…_Not the time Bella!_ I scolded myself for getting distracted when there was a more serious situation at hand.

I nodded my head to his question which only caused him to frown. Dread filled me at his reaction.

He gave me a look, like the look a doctor gives someone before telling them bad news concerning a loved one. He pulled me off to the side, away from the curious bystanders standing nearby, some of which were obviously trying to eavesdrop.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news." I gulped in a shaky breath but nodded for him to continue.

"I don't know how to tell you this," he glanced warily at me. I tensed in anticipation for what he could have to say. I wish he would just spit it out.

"There was a break-in here earlier today." I relaxed at this. That wasn't so bad. The officer continued on though.

"Paul Harris and Maria Deluca were apparently home when it happened. The two of them were killed." He paused when I gasped loudly.

"We are trying our best to find out how this happened and will bring whoever did this to justice," he said with conviction, as if that would make it all better. I stared at him in shock as I tried to grasp what he had just told me. I couldn't form any words as I struggled to wrap my head around this situation.

"I'm sorry," he said gently. He cast me one more sympathetic glance before he returned to his work.

After that, time seemed to stand still. Questions raced through my mind of who could have done this. I stared blankly at the scene trying to comprehend the fact that Paul was actually gone. My vision began to blur as the reality of the situation started to sink in. Even though I may have moved on from his betrayal, it was painful when I realized he was really gone. Even though he had hurt me, he was my first love and a part of me still loved him no matter how much I tried to deny it.

I don't know how long I stood there before I blindly got back in my car and drove home. A steady stream of tears were making their way down my cheeks. Tears for this nightmare. Tears for my lost first love.

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AN: Drama! There is a lot more of that coming so be prepared...hehe

I'm trying to be as realistic as possible when it comes to reactions and all that, which is why Bella is breaking down at the end of this. Remember, this is the guy she had loved for three years so she will understandably be upset by his death.

**This chapter wasn't my favorite. It was more of a way for me to get the next chapters started. **

**I want to ****thank you all again for the encouraging reviews, favorites and alerts! **

**I have part of the next chapter already written so hopefully it won't take me too long to get it out. Please review and let me know what you think! I would love to know what you thought of the whole Bella/Jasper truce thing. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Alright, so I was trying to update my other story, but right now I'm having problems writing the next chapter so I decided to work on this one instead. I'll try to update the other one as soon as I get over this writer's block… **

**Thanks for the reviews! I know I don't always reply to them all but I read and appreciate every one. They keep me motivated! **

**Also, I got really happy when I saw that I now have over 100 alerts! I wanted to thanks you all for reading! :)**

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**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight**

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BPOV

I turned over in bed, getting even more annoyed and frustrated. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the flashing lights of the cop cars in front of Paul's house and the pitying face of that officer. I turned over again, trying to find a comfortable position. I closed my eyes once more, trying in vain to go to sleep. At this rate, I would have hideous bags under my eyes tomorrow when I go in for work.

I started counting backwards from one thousand. When I wasn't asleep by the time I reached zero, I continued counting down in negative numbers. Once I reached negative five-hundred and seventy three, I figured sleep tonight would be out of the question. I groaned and sat up in bed, throwing my pillow at the wall in frustration.

My head was pounding from all the crying I had been doing. I had a feeling my eyes would be red and puffy if I looked in a mirror. What annoyed me even more was that even though I was incredibly tired, I couldn't seem to get to sleep.

I covered my mouth as yet another yawn escaped me. It's like my body knows I'm tired but my mind won't shut the fuck up. With all the thoughts running through my head, there is no chance of sleeping.

This was ridiculous! Ever since I returned home after hearing the horrible news about Paul, I couldn't stop thinking about it. He may have broken my heart, but it hurt more knowing I would never see him again.

_But isn't that what you wanted?_ My inner bitch threw out.

I may not have had any intention of seeing him anymore, but I didn't want him _dead_. I felt wetness gather on my cheeks as I thought that last word. Great. I was crying again. I rolled my eyes at myself and got out of bed. Well, I could always go for a run. Maybe I would end up tiring myself out and finally be able to go to sleep.

I looked over at the clock on my bedside table and groaned. It was 2:37am. I had to be up in less than four hours. I would definitely be dead on my feet at the studio. I just hope I could remember my lines in my sleep deprived state. Hopefully a good run will get my mind off things so I can sleep, even if for only a few hours.

I walked over to my dresser and pulled out my blue Victoria's Secret sweatpants and a white racerback tank top. I threw my workout clothes on and grabbed my ipod, before leaving my house and heading out into the dark for a refreshing run.

* * *

The streets seemed eerily quiet as I made my way down the pavement at a nice brisk jog. This seemed strange considering where I live. LA isn't known as a quiet place, but I shrugged it off as my feet continued to hit the pavement in a constant rhythm. My ipod began playing Katy Perry's _California Girls_, and I found myself humming along to it. Normally I'm not one of those annoying people who sing along to their ipod in public forgetting that no one else can hear the music too, but since there is no one on the street I don't see a problem with it…

Soon, the song ended and another one began playing. I stopped jogging almost instantly. The song was none other than _Collide_ by Howie Day. Of course this just happened to be Paul's and my song. I remembered the day we danced to this.

_Flashback_

"_Paul, it's fine," I laughed as we ran to the door of the bar. It was raining and I was focusing all my effort on not slipping in the puddles that were forming around us. Finally we made it to the covered entrance of the bar. Paul opened the door for me and I released a sigh of relief at making it inside without falling on my ass._

"_It's not fine," Paul grumbled as we made our way over to a booth in the corner or the bar. "I had this night all planned out and none of those plans included getting a flat tire and being stranded in a bar in the middle of nowhere waiting on a fucking tow truck!"_

_I knew the anger in his tone wasn't directed at me but at the situation we now found ourselves in. Paul had heard about a nice restaurant on the outskirts of town and we had to drive through what looked like a deserted road in the middle of nowhere to get there. And with our luck, we ended up getting a flat tire on this very same deserted road. Paul had used his cell phone to call a tow truck and now we had to wait for it to get here. It hadn't helped matters when it started raining buckets outside. It was then that we noticed a rundown bar by the side of the road. In the end, we opted to wait for the tow truck in the bar where we were now. _

_I reached over the table and gave his hand a squeeze. He relaxed at my touch. _

"_It doesn't matter that we aren't at some fancy restaurant. Let's make the most out of it while we're waiting, alright?" _

_Paul sighed, but smiled and nodded. I could understand why he was frustrated. This wasn't my concept of the ideal date either. I decided we needed something to take our minds off of our current situation._

"_Want to dance?" I asked Paul suddenly. He gave me a weird look._

"_Bells, there isn't any music," he said slowly._

_I realized he was right. I looked around the bar for the first time since we arrived. The bartender behind the bar area must have been in his late fifties, and there were only a few other people in here. The others were probably in their forties or fifties also. It was then that I saw the jukebox. I ruffled through my purse until I saw what I needed._

"_What are you doing?" Paul asked, once I stood up. I held up the quarter for him to see. _

"_I want to dance," I stated stubbornly. _

_Paul laughed as I turned and walked over to the jukebox in the corner. The jukebox was full of songs that were old and outdated and a few of which I had never even heard of. I finally came across a song that I liked. Pretty soon, I heard the song begin to play. I smiled and gestured for Paul to join me on the dance floor. He smiled once he reached me, and wrapped his arms around me as we began to sway to the music. _

_Suddenly he snorted. I looked up at him startled, only to see him wearing an amused smile as he stared back down at me._

"_What?" I asked, self-consciously. "You don't like the song?" He shook his head._

"_No, I like the song but I find it ironic that this is the one you chose." _

"_What do you mean?" I asked as I looked up into his dark eyes._

"_This song reminds me of the first time we met." _

_I was confused by what he meant. The song I had chosen was Collide, by Howie Day. How could that remind him of our first meeting? And then I remembered how I crashed my motorcycle in front of him that day._

"_Oh," I said lamely, blushing at the memory. _

_He chuckled and tightened his hold around me. He brought his lips to my ear and began singing some of the lyrics in my ear._

_"Even the best fall down sometimes  
Even the stars refuse to shine  
Out of the back you fall in time  
I somehow find  
You and I collide"_

_He leaned back and stared into my eyes before leaning down and capturing my lips with his. This kiss was different than the others we shared. There seemed to be some sort of tenderness to this one. He pulled back and looked into my eyes again._

"_I love you," he whispered. My breathing hitched at his words. That was the first time he said those words to me. I felt a smile stretch across my face._

"_I love you too," I whispered before his lips met mine again._

_End of flashback_

I pulled the ear buds out of my ears like they burnt me. It wasn't until then that I realized there were tears running down my cheeks while sobs wracked my body. I wiped them away furiously. I was tired of crying. It felt like that was all I did anymore.

"Hey, what's a pretty thing like you doing crying?" A deep voice asked. I jumped at the sudden noise and looked up to see a guy walking toward me. I squinted my eyes, trying to see his face but it was too dark out and it looked like he was wearing a hood. I suddenly got a weird feeling and took a step back.

"It's nothing." I chuckled but it sounded nervous and slightly scared.

"That didn't look like nothing." It sounded like the guy had a New Jersey accent.

The guy took another step forward. I took another step back and panicked when I felt my back press up against the wall of a building. I was trapped! My eyes darted around frantically and my stomach dropped when I realized the street was completely abandoned, not even a car in sight.

"Well, I'm going to go now," I said, trying to make my voice sound strong and confident but it shook slightly, calling my bluff. The guy didn't say anything, but he took a couple more steps forward.

"Uh bye," I said lamely.

I tried to step around him but he grabbed my wrist. His large hand held my wrist in a vice grip. I was starting to panic and my breaths were starting to come in short gasps as my eyes darted around trying to find an escape. My heart, in the meantime, was apparently trying to leap out of my chest. I tried to focus on keeping my breathing steady and staying calm.

"Stay a little while longer, sugar." A shiver ran up my spine at the huskiness of his voice.

"No, really I should get going." I tried pulling my arm away, but the man tightened his hold. My wrist was starting to hurt because of his tight grip. I wouldn't be surprised if bruises formed.

"What's your hurry?" The man drawled out. I could detect a smile in his voice. Forget staying calm. I was in full blown panic mode now!

I swung at him with the arm he didn't have in his grasp, but he simply grabbed my other wrist.

"Come on baby. Don't be that way." He pressed himself against me, trapping me between him and the wall of the building. My eyes widened when I felt his arousal through his jeans. Without further thought, I brought my knee up with as much force as I could manage and kneed him in the groin. He grunted in pain and doubled over, releasing my wrists in the process.

I didn't even pause as I ran around him and in the direction of my house. The thuds my feet made against the pavement echoed loudly around me sounding out of place in the silent street. I could have sworn I heard someone running behind me. That just made me run faster. It was a good thing I was in such good shape.

I didn't stop until I had entered my house and locked the door behind me. I sank to the ground and put a hand to my chest over my hammering heart. My hands were shaking from the thought of what could have happened tonight.

The thought of him still out there freaked me out. What if he moves onto another girl? With that thought, I called the police.

* * *

After I had called 911, I was informed that the police would come investigate. But since I couldn't give a great description of the guy, because it was too dark to see, there wasn't much they could do. The only things I could really tell them about the guy was where we were when he grabbed me and that he was wearing a hoodie and had a New Jersey accent.

To make matters worse, I still couldn't get to sleep. If anything, the new drama of the night (or morning) made sleep an even more impossible notion. After that incident, I was too keyed up to do anything but pace for the remainder of the time I had before I needed to leave for the studio.

And if that wasn't enough, I now had bruises in the shape of a hand on both wrists.

Jane, the makeup artist, did a remarkable job on covering them up though. Once I had stepped into the studio, she quirked one of her manicured eyebrows at the ugly purple and blue marks on my wrists but otherwise kept quiet. That's why I liked Jane. She kept her nose out of other people's business. Or maybe she just didn't care. But either way, I appreciated her not mentioning it. She just worked her magic until they were barely noticeable and told me to try not to rub my wrists up against anything. She also had her work cut out for her concerning the dark circles under my eyes from me not getting any sleep last night.

After Jane was finished with my makeup, I made my way over to Jasper on set. He smiled hesitantly when he saw me.

"Good night Swan?" He asked once I was next to him. I hesitated at his question. What could I say to that? I could just picture my response:

"_Besides the fact that I found out my ex-boyfriend isn't breathing anymore and that I was nearly raped at three in the morning, it was alright."_ I couldn't exactly say that…

He frowned at my hesitation. I opened my mouth to respond, when Scott cut me off telling us to get into place.

* * *

I was in the middle of a scene with Alice and Jasper when I suddenly heard Scott call cut. I looked over at him confused. Why did he stop us? Everything was going perfectly. No one had messed up.

"Bella, there are a few detectives that want to speak to you over here," Scott explained. I could hear the curiosity behind his words.

I looked to where he had gestured and saw a woman and a man both staring at me. I walked over in their direction. I kept thinking over what I could possibly have done but kept coming up blank. Maybe they were here about the incident that happened last night. That's probably it. I could practically feel the perplexed stares of the cast and crew burning into my back as I followed the detectives out the door.

Once we reached a secluded area, the two detectives turned to face me.

"Are you here because of what happened to me last night?" They looked surprised at my question.

"No, we're here regarding the murders of Paul Harris and Maria Deluca," the female detective stated. A lump formed in my throat at the casual reminder of Paul's death.

What she said confused me though. Why were they here? Why weren't they out there finding out who did it?

"We have a few questions we would like to ask you," she continued on. This was too much. I swallowed but nodded for her to continue. I was slightly curious to know what they had to ask me.

"What is your relation to Emmett McCarty?" The female detective asked.

I stared at them confused. "What does Emmett have to do with this?"

"Please just answer the question Miss Swan," the woman said in a hard voice.

"He's one of my best friends. Can you please tell me what he has to do with this though?"

The detectives stared at me intently for a moment and I shifted uncomfortably under their scrutiny. The male detective finally decided to answer my question.

"He has been taken into custody for questioning concerning the deaths of Mr. Harris and Miss Deluca." I stared at them completely speechless. I must have heard wrong. This couldn't be right.

"Why?" That's pretty much the only word I could actually get to come out of my mouth. He ignored me and continued with the interrogation.

"It has come to our attention that he assaulted Mr. Harris because of a disagreement they had about you."

He looked at me for a moment as if to provoke me into telling him some juicy secret. But, currently I was beyond speech. That simple statement put what was happening into perspective for me. I stared at him in disbelief. That was why Emmett was arrested? I guess it sort of makes sense. He _did_ beat Paul up a few days before his body was found. I shook my head and finally found my voice.

"Look, Emmett is completely harmless. He couldn't have done this!"

The female detective stared at me with her eyebrows raised following my little outburst. It was obvious she didn't believe me. I wanted nothing more than to shove the heel of my Jimmy Choo's up her ass, except, I couldn't do that without being arrested for assaulting an officer. This is so frustrating! Ugh!

The male detective decided to continue questioning me.

"Now, I understand that your relationship with Paul Harris didn't end well." I didn't like the accusation in his statement. The way the detectives were staring at me caused my annoyance to flare.

"If you're talking about the fact that he cheated on me with that Maria slut then yeah it didn't end well," I shot back at him in a sarcastic tone. I regretted that when I saw the look they exchanged. Great. I hope I didn't just become a suspect too.

"Thank you for your cooperation Miss Swan. We will be in touch." With that the detectives left me standing there looking like an idiot with my mouth hanging open.

I don't know how long I stood there before someone came and found me. Scott decided that we should end for the day considering there was no way I would be able to complete the filming when I was like this. I couldn't even form a coherent sentence.

I headed to my dressing room in a daze. I vaguely recalled walking past Jasper who looked at me worriedly. It probably had to do with the vacant expression I was now wearing. This was too much to handle. First with Paul's death and now with Emmett being taken in for questioning about his death. I just wanted time to stop! I was having trouble comprehending all that had happened.

The idea that Emmett was behind Paul's and Maria's deaths was ridiculous! Sure he may have wanted to cause Paul some bodily harm, but he wouldn't have wanted him dead!

And then I thought back to the note I had received a few nights ago, and the threat it contained. I had thought it was some sick joke at first but now I knew different. Once I had entered my dressing room, I ran to the trash bin in the corner to retrieve the note I had discarded earlier and read the last two lines again.

"_The way Paul treated you angers me,_

_I'll make sure that he will pay._"

I gulped. I guess whoever wrote it had succeeded in their plan.

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AN: Yeah…so this story has kind of taken on a different direction from what I had originally intended when I began writing. My hands just keep typing this stuff so at the moment I'm just going with it…lol

**I also am thinking of another story…I know I have two stories out already, but I just thought of another idea that keeps pestering me to be written. The new one I'm thinking up is going to have the Cullens as vampires though. I posted the summary below: **

**Summary: Bella Swan finds herself in an odd situation after her supposed friends take things too far. Now, Bella thinks she's dead once she realizes that no one can see her. But what happens when a strange family moves to town and they actually acknowledge her presence? Can they help her find out what is happening to her, or will it be too late? **

**I'm debating having it be Jasper/Bella or Edward/Bella. Since I'm not sure which would be the better relationship in this story, I wanted to see what you all think. If you decide to leave a review, please specify if you want the new story to be Jasper/Bella or Edward/Bella in your review. Or if you don't review but still want to vote, please PM me with your preference. I'll keep the voting open until August 15****th****. **

**Thank you all again for reading! I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible. Please review and let me know what you thought about this chapter!**

**Love,**

**Katie**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts!**

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**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight. I just like to play around with Jasper. Mmm ;)**

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BPOV

I was still staring at the note in shock. This is insane! This kind of stuff doesn't happen in real life! Well, at least not in _my_ life. It's like my life is becoming the show. I was startled at the sound of someone tapping on the door to my dressing room which I had left open. I spun around to see Jasper standing there. He smiled hesitantly at me, but frowned when he noticed my panicked expression.

"Hey, mind if I come in?" I nodded, unable to talk at the moment. He came in and sat on a chair across from me.

"Is everything alright? You seemed a bit freaked out earlier." I laughed humorlessly at this. I think I'm a tad bit more than _freaked out_.

"Why? What happened?" Huh, I guess I said that out loud.

It was then that Jasper saw the note I was holding. Before I could stop him, the nosy fucker that he is yanked the note out of my hands. He stared at it with wide eyes for a moment before he looked back up at me.

"Is this one of the notes you were talking about earlier?"

I stared at him confused. I haven't told anyone about the notes, not even Leah and Jake. He noticed my puzzled expression and gave me a tight smile.

"A few days ago you accused me of leaving notes in your dressing room…" his voice trailed off.

"Oh right," I nodded lamely. "Sorry about that." He gave me an amused look at my apology, but his face suddenly hardened.

"How long has this been goin' on?" I raised my eyebrows at him questioningly.

"Why are you acting like you care?" He opened his mouth to respond but then shut it and shrugged instead. I sighed. "I've been getting these notes periodically for six months now."

Jasper swallowed and looked back down at the note, as if it would suddenly change its message.

"You need to tell someone about this," he whispered.

He narrowed his eyes at the note and scrunched up his face in the cutest way. Wait. _Cute_? I've never thought of him as anything more than annoying. I was snapped out of my thoughts by the sound of his sexy drawl. Wait. _Sexy_ now? What the hell is wrong with me?

"Isn't this Paul guy that is mentioned in the note that guy you were goin' out with?"

I nodded again and cleared my throat. "I found out that he was killed recently."

Jasper's eyes got impossibly wider at this news.

"That's why there were detectives at the studio just now," Jasper said to himself, like it solved some big mystery for him. He snapped his head back in my direction.

"How many other notes were there?"

"I don't know, probably around twenty. I kept throwing them away because I thought you were playing some kind of joke on me." I shook my head to clear it. "That's the only one I have. All of the other ones are probably off in some dump by now."

He nodded absentmindedly before looking back up at me. His baby blue eyes stared into my brown ones.

"How many others know about this?" I shrugged.

"Besides you, no one. I didn't think it was serious at the time."

It may sound stupid that I never told anyone about this, but I get weird fan mail all the time. Once I had someone from Chicago telling me in a letter that they liked my performance in the movie, _A Brush with Death_. In this movie, I was playing a patient with Leukemia. My character had gone through radiation treatment and had lost all her hair. This fan told me that she shaved off all her hair after watching my performance in the movie because she is such big fan of mine. Apparently I am her idol or something like that. Weird, I know.

Another fan wrote to me a few years ago telling me that she was going on the show "Celebrity Look A Like," where the people on the show get plastic surgery so they can look like their favorite celebrity. I don't understand why someone would get plastic surgery to completely alter their appearance so they can look like someone else. I found it completely disturbing that someone wanted to look just like me. For all I know, there could be someone out there who looks like my twin now. Talk about obsessive…

But the point is that I get people telling me weird things all the time. I didn't think this was any different. After telling Jasper all of this, he nodded in understanding but there was some weird emotion in his eyes. He looked unnerved as he stared back down at the note in his hand.

"Okay. I know what you mean, but we need to tell someone about this one." He held up the note. "Come on." He headed toward the door of my dressing room.

"Where are you going?" I couldn't stop myself from asking. He turned back to face me.

"The police station."

"I get why I need to go, but why do you want to come?" I cocked my head to the side. "I understand we have this…truce thing now, but even so, you hate me…" My voice trailed off and for some reason those three words caused an ache in my chest. That's odd.

He opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but snapped it shut the next moment and shrugged.

"Well, we can't exactly have you kidnapped by some psycho stalker now, can we? I could just imagine how the ratings would be affected, and I rather not risk my job because you suddenly go 'missing.'" He smirked. I snorted and shook my head in amusement.

"Right," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. Only Jasper would make jokes about a situation like this.

"So, are you comin'?" He gestured toward the open door of my dressing room. I gave him one more questioning look but sighed and nodded before following Jasper out of my room.

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"Why didn't you come forth with this information before now?" The female officer asked, obviously annoyed with me.

I stared at her, trying my hardest not to snap at the bitch. She had been giving me issues ever since Jasper and I had stepped into the police station. Once she led us to her desk and we had all taken a seat, she kept insinuating that I was making this shit up. She kept acting as though I was wasting her time.

The stress of everything that has been going on recently had me on the verge of snapping already. I didn't need some bitchy cop on top of that. I stared down at the top of her desk as I tried to get a hold on myself. I took a deep breath in a vain attempt to calm down.

"I just realized recently that the notes I am being sent may have something to do with Paul's murder," I said through gritted teeth, surprising myself when I was able to mention Paul without the slightest flinch. "I didn't think it was serious until now."

The officer, whose name I was told was Lauren, stared at me unblinking.

"And how could you think something like this isn't serious?" Lauren asked suspiciously, raising the note I had shown her. "I find it hard to believe that you would just ignore this for so long."

"I get weird fan mail all the time, I didn't think—" Lauren cut me off.

"I see your type all the time," Lauren shook her head at me, wearing an exasperated expression.

"Excuse me?" I asked indignantly.

"LA is full of your type, rich prima donnas who just like to seek as much attention as they can get. I wouldn't be surprised if you made the whole thing up just so you could make the next headlines. You're wasting my time."

Lauren stood up and made to leave when I slammed my hands down on the desk and pushed my chair back roughly. The legs of the chair fell back on the floor with a loud bang. Jasper, who had been silent this whole time, stood up too. He seemed shocked by Lauren's dismissal as well.

"What the hell? You're a goddamned cop! You're supposed to do _something_!" I was surprised steam hadn't started coming out of my ears by this point. "And for your information, I don't need to make up a fucking story to make the headlines, so why would I make something like this up? What is your problem you dumbass motherfucking bit—"

A warm hand suddenly clamped down over my mouth, making it impossible to get out coherent curses. Another arm wrapped around my waist, pulling my body flush against someone's chest. I smelled the musky scent with a hint of Curve cologne and knew instantly that it was Jasper who had put his hand over my mouth and was currently restraining me.

"You don't want to do this," Jasper whispered in my ear, his warm breath fanning over my neck. He pulled his hand away from my mouth, but kept his arms around me in an effort to stop me from lunging at Lauren.

"Oh yes, I really do," I hissed angrily. "Now let me go so I can beat her ass!"

He chuckled softly but tightened his hold around my waist. Lauren had spun around and was now glaring at me.

"I should have you arrested for obstructing an ongoing investigation. If you weren't so busy spewing this nonsense, I could be out there solving this case instead of listening to this garbage." My lip curled back over my teeth at her words.

"I am trying to tell you—"

"Is there a problem here Miss?" A male officer with short blonde hair and grayish eyes appeared by my side.

"Yes, there is. This _officer_," I sneered in Lauren's direction, "hasn't been taking me seriously when I showed her this note I received a few nights ago." I handed the male cop the note. His eyes widened when he read it.

"Have you gotten anymore of these?" He asked.

I released a breath, thankful that he seemed to be taking me seriously. Jasper released his hold on me when it was obvious I wasn't going to try to pummel Lauren's face in any time soon.

"Not of the same content, but I've been receiving notes for the past six months. And—" I took a deep breath, "I was attacked last night." Lauren scoffed, making us aware of her presence again, and stepped forward.

"Sir, it's obvious that she's making this whole thing up! You can't honestly believe her!" She threw her hands up in frustration. The male officer, who I presumed to be her boss, gave her a piercing stare. She seemed to shrink a little.

"Does this look like I'm making it up?" I asked furiously as I rubbed the makeup that Jane had used off my wrists. Without the makeup, the purple and blue hand shaped bruises stood out against my alabaster skin. I heard Jasper inhale sharply at the sight of my wrists, but I was more focused on the cop who seemed to be actually doing his job. He turned to Lauren and gave her another hard stare.

"Officer Mallory, you should know that we take every concern seriously. You will wait in my office and I will be in to talk to you shortly." Lauren seemed to pale a little at his tone of voice.

"Yes sir," she said quietly before throwing a scathing look at me and heading away from us. The male detective turned to face me again.

"I'm sorry about that," he gestured in the direction of where Lauren had just left. "I'm Officer Newton, but you can call me Mike." He smiled down at me and held out his hand. I took his offered hand, which he held a little longer than necessary.

"And you are the famous Bella Swan," he stated. I smiled and nodded. A throat clearing made us aware of Jasper's presence again. He looked slightly annoyed for some reason.

"And you're Jasper Whitlock," Mike said in a friendly tone, holding out his hand for Jasper to shake.

Jasper stared at it before he took it. It looked like the two of them were trying to squeeze the life out of the other's hand. If the way Mike's face contorted in a grimace was any indication, Jasper clearly won that ridiculous test of masculinity. I quirked an eyebrow at Jasper when Mike wasn't looking. He was too busy rubbing his now red hand. Jasper just shrugged at my questioning look but smirked at Mike's obvious discomfort from his "firm" handshake.

"Right, well follow me," Mike said, leading the way to his desk.

Once we had all taken a seat, Mike clasped his hands on the desk and stared at me.

"Alright Miss Swan—"

"Bella," I corrected him automatically. Mike smiled at me.

"Alright then Bella, can you start at the beginning for me? Tell me everything."

The two men sat patiently as I recounted everything. I told Mike all of what I thought was important, from what the notes had said, to my attack last night, to how I realized that the person writing the note could have been responsible for Paul's death. Mike listened in silence, occasionally jotting down notes on a notepad he had in front of him. When I was finished talking, Mike set the notepad aside and smiled at me.

"If you think of anything else, please call me." He handed me his card as he said this. "I'm just a phone call away." Jasper snorted but covered it up in an unconvincing cough. I ignored him as I smiled at Mike.

"Thank you," I said quietly.

"Just doing my job," he replied with a shrug.

"Still, you took me seriously and I appreciate it," I said sincerely. "Hey, why don't you let me take you out to dinner?" I asked, surprising myself and him with my question. A weird spluttering noise came from Jasper's direction. I ignored him as I smiled at Mike, waiting for his answer.

"Uh I don't know if that would be such a good idea…" Mike trailed off. It sounded like he wanted to say yes though. I smiled encouragingly.

"Please? It's the least I can do. There's an Italian restaurant not far from here that is amazing." He looked a bit hesitant. "It will be a friendly dinner of course," I added quickly. Mike eventually smiled and nodded.

"How can I possibly turn down an offer like that?" He asked with a chuckle and a shake of the head. After giving him my phone number, and making plans for our dinner "date," I stood up.

"It was nice meeting you Mike," I said holding out my hand. He brought it up to his lips and placed a kiss on my knuckles.

"The pleasure was all mine," Mike replied.

"Wow. Well that wasn't cheesy at all," Jasper snorted. I elbowed him in the ribs and narrowed my eyes at him. What was his problem? He had the strangest expression and was practically glaring at Mike.

"We better go. There's no telling when Jasper's bipolar medication will wear off and we definitely don't want to be in public when _that _happens." Jasper rolled his eyes at me. Mike appraised Jasper carefully after my comment, not used to the teasing remarks Jasper and I dish out to each other.

"Right. Well you better go then," Mike said hurriedly. I suppressed my laughter as Jasper and I made our way to the exit.

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When we stepped back outside, after leaving the police station, Jasper turned to me with a bemused expression.

"He actually believed what you said, didn't he? Wow, how dumb could he get?" I elbowed him in the ribs again.

"Ow! Jesus You have bony elbows." He rubbed his ribs exaggeratedly.

"I thought he was nice," I said defensively. Jasper narrowed his eyes at me suspiciously.

"Is there something going on between you two?" There was some unknown emotion in his eyes when he asked that.

"I just met the guy. What's it matter to you anyway who I may or may not be interested in?" He looked at me with that damned smirk on his lips.

"Just wonderin'. I didn't expect you to go for the type of guy that probably still lives with his mom in his thirties." I stared at him confused.

"What do you mean?" I didn't know why he was saying this.

"Well, he looks like the momma's boy type. I wouldn't be surprised if he still wears diapers." I stared at him utterly bewildered. I was used to Jasper teasing _me_ but I had never seen him dish out snide remarks regarding others before, and he had only just met Mike.

"What's your problem, Jasper? Jealous?" I questioned sarcastically. I didn't know why I asked that so it took me by surprise when the word left my lips. He stared at me with that smirk back in place on his face.

"Why would I be _jealous_? I could care less who you bang in your spare time." His snappy tone caught me off guard. Where was this coming from? Maybe I wasn't too far off about him being bipolar after all…

"Excuse me, but I don't fuck some person I just met like someone I know," I stared at him pointedly. "And what is up with you? You're the one that wanted to make this truce thing between us but you keep making fucking comments that are completely uncalled for." He turned away from my questioning stare and shrugged.

"Whatever," was his great response. Without another word, he started walking away from me, leaving me to stare at his retreating figure in utter bewilderment.

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AN: Huh, what is going on with Jasper? I'm thinking about doing a chapter in Jasper's POV sometime in the future, but I'm not sure yet. What do you all think? Do you want to hear what all is going on in that gorgeous head of his? ;)

**Please review and let me know what you think! **

**Thanks for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Thanks for the reviews! They always make me smile!**

**I'm sorry for the wait! I've had a lot on my plate with moving into my new apartment and classes starting up and all that. This chapter is pretty long. It was actually longer, but I split it up into two parts. **

**I made this chapter in Bella's POV but I've already started thinking up a chapter for Jasper's POV! **

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**Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight, I just like to frolic around with her characters. ;)**

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BPOV

The week after my trip to the police station, and subsequently Jasper's odd behavior, passed by in a blur. Before I knew it, it was the night of Mike's and my dinner. For some reason I can't think of it as a date. It just feels weird to classify it that way, and since neither of us has used the term, we have come to some sort of unspoken agreement that this is just a friendly dinner to get to know one another.

After the two of us made dinner plans, I set up a reservation at my favorite Italian restaurant, _Bella Italia_. I was promised that they would have my usual table set up for me. My table happens to be directly in front of the window, overlooking the streets of LA. I always thought it was beautiful to see the city lit up at night.

Whenever I show up at _Bella Italia_, the restaurant staff makes sure the surrounding tables are vacant so that my dinner is not disturbed. I always felt bad that they went out of their way to do this, but the owner insisted. This was all because of a certain incident a few years ago when I was ambushed by some fans while I was in the middle of my Tiramisu. Instead of finishing the delicious dessert, I spent the next immeasurable amount of time signing autographs and seeing spots due to all the camera flashes.

The restaurant staff are used to me making appearances there frequently. Now come to think of it, my presence might be the reason for the restaurant's booming popularity of the past few years. Shaking that thought off, I continued to rifle through the clothes in my closet looking for the perfect outfit for tonight. Normally I would drag Leah over to my house and she would give me her opinion as I would try on different outfits, but she and Jake are still in France.

I haven't told either of them about the creepy notes I've been getting because I don't want to ruin their trip, and I know they would spend their vacation time worrying about me. They don't even know about Paul's death. The two of them will probably be upset with me for keeping this information from them, but I'll deal with that when the time comes.

Emmett and Seth haven't been around as much lately and so I haven't gotten a chance to tell them about the notes either. Now come to think of it, I haven't seen either of them since I bailed Emmett out of jail. Abandoning those thoughts, I willed myself to focus on the issue at hand. _Clothes._

_Bella Italia_ is a high class restaurant, so I should definitely wear a skirt or dress. This shouldn't be so hard to do, but considering how my closet has a striking resemblance to the Beverly Center mall, the simple act of choosing an outfit is proving to be rather tricky.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to wear a simple white halter dress with an empire waist that fell to just below my knees. The shoes I chose to wear were silver stilettos with multi-banded straps that wrapped around my ankles. The heels increased my height to about 5'7" making my legs look even longer.

A little while later, I was just finishing applying some sheer lip gloss to my lips when the doorbell rang. I smiled as I looked at myself in the mirror, making sure every strand of hair was in place. Running down the stairs, I composed myself before opening the door to see Mike standing there in a blue dress shirt and black dress pants. His eyes got impossibly wide when he took me in, before he swallowed noticeably and gave me a wide smile.

"You look great," he said, while his eyes swept over my form. I smiled at him.

"You do too. Are you ready?"

He nodded and offered me his arm. I laughed slightly at this gesture, but took it as we made our way down the porch steps and to his car. He opened the passenger door for me and I gracefully slid in. It wasn't long before we were pulling up in front of the restaurant. The car ride had been spent in relative silence with the occasional comment one of us would make.

The hostess greeted us once we stepped through the door, and we were ushered to my usual table by the window. The waitress passed us two menus as well as the wine list.

"Can I get you two started with anything to drink?" I looked over the wine list before turning back to her.

"Yes. Could we get a bottle of the Brunello di Montalcino?" She smiled and nodded before leaving Mike and me alone.

I noticed Mike's eyebrows knitted together as he opened up his menu, before looking back up at me.

"The menu is in Italian," he stated bluntly. I smiled slightly at his obvious remark.

"Yeah. I think the owner thought an all Italian menu would contribute to the authenticity of the place," I explained.

"But how are we supposed to know what to order?" I stifled my laugh at his frustrated expression.

"With other customers the waitress would ask if they would need help with the menu, but they know I speak Italian." He raised his eyebrows at this, but didn't comment about it. I spent the next few minutes translating the menu for him until he picked something that he wanted, which turned out to be Steak Florentine.

Pretty soon the waitress returned with the bottle of wine. She uncorked the bottle before pouring the two of us a glass and setting the bottle in the middle of the table.

"Are you two ready to order?" I nodded at her question.

"I'll have the Scaloppine di Vitello alla Parmigiana and he'll have the Bistecca Fiorentina," I said. The waitress nodded and collected Mike's and my menus. After she left, I turned back to Mike.

"So what was that you ordered?" He asked curiously.

"Veal paremesan," I smiled.

"How long have you spoken Italian?" Mike asked quietly. "It's kind of sexy." I laughed at his comment.

"I've been fluent for about eight years." I smiled at his amazed look. "I've never gone to a public school," I blurted out suddenly. Mike's eyebrows shot up at this statement so I decided to elaborate.

"I've been acting for most of my life so public school wasn't something my parents wanted me to do. They were worried that I would get ambushed by crazy fans or something," I said, rolling my eyes. Mike nodded in understanding.

"That must have been hard," he said softly. I shrugged with a sad smile.

"When I was younger I wanted to go to a public school just to be normal for once, but I got used to being homeschooled. My private tutor was pretty cool though. Her name was Victoria, but I always called her Vicky even though she hated it when I called her that." I laughed at this and Mike smiled.

"Anyway, when I reached my high school years, she told me I needed to take a foreign language. She said a lot of the kids in the public schools either took French or Spanish, but I always thought Italian was a pretty language. When I told her this, she arranged for this guy named Laurent to teach me Italian. By the time I was seventeen I was fluent."

"Wow." Mike seemed at a loss for words as he stared at me in awe. I started to get uncomfortable under his gaze so I decided to redirect the conversation.

"So what about you?" I asked with a smile. "What's your story?"

"You wouldn't want to hear about that. It's nothing like what you've done."

"I don't believe that," I smiled encouragingly, "there must be exciting things you have to do all the time with being the police chief, especially in LA." He chuckled and nodded at this.

"Well there was this one time…" But my attention was caught by something over his shoulder that caused me to groan loudly. Mike stopped talking at my annoyed sound.

"Sorry, am I boring you?" I shook my head and looked back at him.

"Not at all. I just saw something that I wish I hadn't." I put my head in my hands. Of all nights for him to show up…

"What did you see?" Mike sounded concerned. Before I could answer, I was cut off by a familiar southern drawl.

"Well, ain't it a small world." Jasper stopped in front of our table and smirked down at me, but there was some sort of tension in his expression that baffled me.

"What are you doing here Jasper?" I asked, exasperated. He chuckled slightly.

"That's the greetin' I get?" He looked amused. "I was takin' a walk and saw you through the window. I thought I would come in and say hi," he explained. I stared at him completely speechless.

"You thought you would say hi?" I repeated. I couldn't seem to get those words to make sense to me. I would have thought he would continue walking and ignore my presence like he has done so frequently in the past. Something strange is going on with that man…

"Yep," he said, popping the 'p'.

"Okay, well you said hi, so…" I trailed off, thinking he would take the hint and go. No such luck.

Mike glanced at me. He looked slightly uncomfortable with this situation. He looked back at Jasper, who apparently could not take a hint.

"Did you want to join us?" It was obvious in Mike's tone that he was annoyed but trying to be polite.

"Oh, Jasper probably has somewhere to go. He doesn't want to stick around." I gave Jasper a warning look when I said this, but he didn't seem to notice as he pulled out a chair at the table and sat down.

"Actually, I think I will join you two. Thanks for the offer." He seemed oblivious to the glare I was sending his way.

"Why are you here anyways? Don't you have things to do…or a brain to find?" I asked sweetly.

"Ha ha," Jasper said rolling his eyes. "This one's a keeper," he said to Mike. He leaned over and ruffled my hair. I glared at him as I smoothed my hair back down.

I opened my mouth to tell him to go fuck himself or something, but the waitress chose that moment to appear at our table.

"Hi there honey, I'll just leave this with you," she said with a smile. She passed a menu to Jasper. "I'll be back in a little bit when you're ready to order."

"Actually I'm a quick chooser, I'll just order now," he said while opening the menu. "I'll have," he paused and his forehead creased as he stared at the selections. I suppressed a laugh. He probably couldn't speak Italian, and knowing Jasper like I do, he would be too damn proud to ask for help, especially in front of me.

"Is there a problem Jasper?" I asked with a smirk. He shook his head and looked back down at the menu.

"Uh…I'll have that," Jasper said, pointing at the menu randomly.

The waitress nodded and took his menu from him.

"Alright, your _Lumache alla Romana_ will be out shortly," she said before sweeping away. I burst out laughing once she had left. Jasper and Mike looked at me like I had grown two heads.

"Mind filling me in on the joke?" Jasper asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Do you even know what you ordered?" I asked with another giggle.

"Of course I do," Jasper stated indignantly.

"Right, so you _do_ realize what you just ordered translates to 'Roman style snails'?"

I had to shove my hand over my mouth to stifle my laughter from Jasper's horrified expression. A moment later he composed himself.

"Yes, that's exactly what I meant to order." His voice quivered slightly as he said this, calling his bluff.

"Sure," I said sarcastically, turning back to Mike.

I did my best to ignore Jasper's presence as I leaned forward and smiled at Mike. We tried to make small talk, while ignoring Jasper, when the waitress showed up with our dinners. She set the plates down in front of each of us before walking away. I looked over at what Jasper had ordered. The snails were about the size of a quarter and were covered in a red sauce. I had to stifle my laughter when I saw Jasper make a face at his dinner.

"Is something wrong?" I asked Jasper innocently.

"Nope," he croaked out.

"Why aren't you eating then?" I asked him sweetly. He swallowed thickly and picked up a snail on his fork. He took a deep breath and then plopped it in his mouth. I suppressed my laughter as I saw him grimace but he tried to cover it up.

"Mmm tasty," he said around a mouthful of snail.

"Uh huh," I said disbelievingly. It looked like he was trying to keep it in his mouth and not spit it across the restaurant instead.

"That's an…err…interesting texture," he said with another grimace as he stared at the snails on his plate. I shook my head at him in amusement and turned back to Mike. I was about to say something when Mike chuckled.

"You got some sauce on your cheek," Mike said softly, leaning closer to me. I put my hand up to my cheek but he shook his head and chuckled again.

"Here, let me." He leaned closer to me and reached a hand up to gather the sauce, but he didn't pull away. His eyes flickered to my lips before he leaned in closer, our faces inches apart. Suddenly I felt something wet sliding down my dress and get caught in my bra causing me to jump about a foot in the air.

"AHH!" I screeched. Jasper was shaking with silent laughter beside me. I turned and faced him with narrowed eyes.

"Did you just throw one of your snails down my dress?" I asked incredulously, using all my effort to keep myself from throttling him.

"Oops, sorry. It slipped."

His lips twitched as he stared at my chest. I looked down to see some of the red sauce the snail was covered in soaking through my dress from where it was pressing against the fabric from the inside. It was just my luck that I happened to be wearing a _white_ dress.

"How the fuck did that just _slip_?" I was surprised he didn't flinch at the intensity of the glare I was giving him. He shrugged in response. I groaned. "Just perfect," I muttered.

"Here, let me get that for you," Jasper reached over and attempted to stick his hand down my dress. I slapped his hand away.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I whisper yelled. I chanced a glance at Mike who was looking increasingly uncomfortable.

"I'm just trying to help," Jasper said with a too innocent expression.

"By groping me?" I asked furiously. He smirked but shrugged. I was trying my hardest not to lunge across the table and shove my fork up his nose. What was his problem? He was acting even more annoying than usual.

"Why don't you go busy yourself with infecting half of LA with herpes and leave me the fuck alone!" He narrowed his eyes at me and leaned closer, his warm breath fanning across my face.

"Why so angry? Is someone here not being satisfied?" He glanced from me to Mike. "That's it isn't it?" Jasper continued with a smirk. "He's unable to get a boner, huh?" I wouldn't be surprised if steam was coming out of my ears by this point.

"I'm sure Mike is very capable of getting a _boner_," I whispered the last word. I glanced at Mike who now had his head in his hands. "What's your problem anyway?" I hissed.

"I don't have a problem." I scoffed at this.

"Oh really? Then why are you here ruining this dinner?"

"I don't see how I could be ruining it. You should be thrilled to be in my company," he smirked at me. Cocky bastard.

"I think you need to get over yourself and stop trying to make my life miserable," I said harshly.

"And I think _you_ should go see a doctor about that stick that is permanently wedged up your ass."

"How about we just enjoy our dinner, alright?" Mike asked, sounding tired.

"Shut up Newton," Jasper snapped. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Don't tell him what to do!" I hissed.

"Bella, it's fine—" Mike started.

"Shut up Mike," I repeated Jasper's earlier words. Jasper coughed something behind his hand that sounded suspiciously like "hypocrite." I snapped my gaze back to Jasper.

"Why don't you go do something that's more your style, like calling a hooker or something?" Jasper narrowed his eyes at me.

"Why call for a hooker when you're here lookin' like one?" Jasper shot back.

"You know what? No one is making you stay here, so why don't you leave us the fuck alone!" My voice was gradually getting louder.

"Bella, calm down—" Mike stopped talking when I fixed him with a glare. The worst thing you can tell a woman to do is calm down. I turned back to Jasper.

"Are your parents siblings? Is that it? I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if you were a product of incest with how much of an insufferable dunce you are." I clasped my hands firmly in my lap to resist the temptation of hitting him. _Violence is not the answer_, I kept telling myself. "Why can't you just act like a normal human being instead of some creature from the zoo for once?" He leaned closer, our noses practically touching at this point.

"Normal, like you?" He scoffed. "Any similarities _you_ may have with an actual human being are purely coincidental."

"Maybe I should go." Mike made to stand up but I yanked on his arm. He was taken by surprise and fell back down in his chair with an "oomph."

"Don't go anywhere," I demanded. "I need to talk to Jasper NOW." The subject of my annoyance leaned back in his chair and smirked at me, while looking down at his practically untouched dinner.

"But I'm not finished…OW!" Jasper exclaimed as I grabbed his ear and yanked him from his seat.

"Yes you are," I hissed. "I'll be right back Mike." He nodded with wide eyes, apparently beyond words at the moment.

I pulled him away from the table and in the direction of the restrooms. When we were out of ear shot, I rounded on him.

"Why are you here?" I demanded. He raised his eyebrows in an innocent look.

"I already told you that I saw you in the window—"

"Cut the bullshit!" I said, crossing my arms in front of my chest.

"I don't know what you want me to say," he replied stubbornly.

"What about an apology?" I asked sarcastically. He stared at me for a moment before rolling his eyes.

"I'm sorry your _date_," he sneered the word, "is an uptight asshole. It probably has to do with the permanent wedgie he has goin' on though, or maybe he's upset because he lost his pocket protector..." he trailed off looking thoughtful.

"Jasper!"

"What? It's true! Have you even seen the guy? He's a complete dork. I bet he was the type to get swirlies and dumped in trash cans in high school." (**AN: No offence intended to the dorks of the world lol**)

"That's beside the point. This was supposed to be a dinner for _Mike_ and me."

I sighed and rested my back against the wall, folding my arms in front of my chest.

"Besides, it wasn't a date." His expression brightened somewhat. That's weird…

"I thought you wanted us to try and get along," I said suddenly. My voice sounded tired to my own ears. Jasper's face softened slightly at my weary tone.

"I do," he said softly.

"Then what was that?" I gestured toward the direction of our table, implying the fiasco that just occurred between us. He shrugged and looked away, not meeting my eyes.

"Look, it doesn't even matter now," I groaned. "Can we just enjoy the rest of the dinner and be civil to each other for once?" He sighed but nodded.

"Good. Come on." I led the way back to the table, only to stop once we reached it. Mike was gone. I don't know why I was surprised about that after what just happened, but my anger at Jasper came back as I realized he ruined the night for me.

"Are you happy now?" I asked furiously, jabbing him in the chest with my index finger. "You ruined my date!"

"I thought you said it wasn't a date," Jasper said with a strange emotion in his eyes. I opened my mouth but snapped it shut. I threw my hands up in frustration and fixed him with a glare.

"It doesn't even matter now because I probably won't see him again because of you," I hissed angrily. Jasper shrugged, clearly unaffected by this new turn of events. He looked back to the table where most of the food was left untouched before glancing back at me.

"How about we stay and finish this food so it doesn't go to waste?" He asked. I sighed in defeat and plopped back down in my chair.

"Fine. But you can bet your ass I'll pepper spray you if you throw something else at me." Jasper put his hands up in a sign of surrender.

"No more food projectiles," Jasper promised, his lips twitching at the corners as he said this. I shook my head before stabbing a piece of veal and tossing it in my mouth. I noticed Jasper pushed his dinner aside and took Mike's half eaten one. I smirked despite the situation.

"Something wrong with your dinner?"

"Shut up," Jasper muttered. His disgruntled expression and the absurdity of the night caused me to lose it.

I couldn't help it, a giggle escaped my mouth. I clapped a hand over my mouth in surprise, but I couldn't stop the next giggle from passing my lips until pretty soon I was full on laughing. And I'm not talking the dainty girly giggles. I'm talking full on, bent over at the knees, laughing so hard you're going to pee your pants, laughing.

Jasper looked up from his plate surprised at my mood change, but suddenly started laughing too. Everything that happened tonight was just so fucking predictable for us that we couldn't help but find the hilarity of the situation. It took a while, but eventually we calmed down.

"Well, this night has been a fucking disaster," I said with another chuckle. "I can't believe the way we've been acting towards one another. I mean, we're both adults and have been acting like we're five." I shook my head at the absurdity of the previous events.

"If it's any consolation, I'm sorry I ruined your dinner," he paused, "And your dress," he added as an afterthought as he appraised the red stain that stood out in stark contrast to the white.

"It's fine. I can just add it to the pile of other clothes you've managed to stain in the time I've known you," I said with a shake of the head.

"That was just once, and it was an accident," Jasper defended. I narrowed my eyes at him suspiciously.

"So this _wasn't_ an accident?" I asked, waving a hand indicating the stain.

"I didn't say that," he said quickly, but looked away. He almost looked sheepish. I looked down at my plate thoughtfully.

"Why do we keep doing this Jasper?" I asked suddenly, causing Jasper to look at me again. "We can't seem to get along and I don't know why." Jasper was quiet and we didn't talk for a while after that.

"Does that hurt?" He asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had settled over us. I stared at him confused. He gestured to the finger shaped bruises on my wrists.

"Not really," I said with a shrug. "It hurt more when it happened." He nodded thoughtfully before he frowned.

"Have you gotten anymore notes lately?" I shook my head in response.

"Well are you ready to go?" I asked suddenly, wanting this subject to be over. He gave me a look that made me think he knew what I was doing but he nodded.

After flagging down the waitress for the check and paying, we made our way out of the restaurant. I stopped walking when I realized something. I gave a short humorless laugh and shook my head.

"Well, isn't that just fucking great," I muttered sarcastically. Jasper looked at me and raised his eyebrows in question.

"I completely forgot that Mike drove. Now I'll have to call a cab or something." He shook his head and smiled.

"I can give you a lift," Jasper said, much to my surprise.

"Am I going to have to pay a fair or something?" I asked suspiciously. I couldn't help it. One minute we are at each other's throats, and the next we are acting all civil to one another. If I didn't know better I would wonder if guys can get PMS with the way he is constantly changing his tune with me. He laughed and shook his head.

"It's the least I can do after I crashed your dinner." I gave him another suspicious look but followed him as he led the way to where his car was parked. This night just keeps getting stranger...

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AN: **When I was writing this chapter, I realized it was starting to get too long, so I split this night up into two separate chapters. The next part of this night is about halfway done, so that means a quicker update for the next chapter! lol**

**I know this is kind of a slow build up to their relationship, but I'm getting there… The next chapter will still be in Bella's POV, but the one after that will be Jasper's POV.**

**And the results for the relationship for my next story will be Bella/Jasper! Thank you to everyone who voted! I'll try to post it as soon as I can.**

**Also, I know I haven't been very good about replying to reviews, but I'm going to try and reply to all of them now. I'll also try updating sooner, but no guarantees with that since classes just started up. I'll try though… :)**

**Thanks for reading! Please review and tell me what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Thanks for the reviews, favorites, and alerts!**

**Here's the second part of that long chapter I was talking about. Oh and the beginning of this chapter is a collection of flashbacks. I just wanted to give a little insight into Bella's background.**

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**Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight**

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BPOV

"_Daddy, look what I did!" My five year old self exclaimed proudly, running into my daddy's home office. He was sitting behind his desk staring at some papers he had piled there. I frowned when he didn't look up from what he was doing. I skipped around his desk until I was next to him and tapped his shoulder to get his attention._

"_I made a picture for you," I said excitedly, waving the picture I was holding in my hands in his line of sight. "It's of you, mommy, and me," I stated while pointing the figures out in the picture I had drawn with my crayons._

"_Kate!" My dad yelled, while keeping his focus on the papers in front of him. It wasn't long until Kate, my nanny, ran into his office looking worried about something. When she saw me, she smiled slightly and placed her hands on my shoulders._

"_I'm sorry sir. This one's a fast one," she said, gesturing to me with a smile. When my daddy didn't say anything, Kate's smile disappeared. That's weird. Kate is the nicest person. She's always smiling. It's wrong that she looks so serious right now. "It won't happen again sir," she said seriously._

"_It better not," my dad grunted. Kate looked down at me and gave me a small smile._

"_Come on munchkin. Why don't we go draw another picture?" She grabbed my small hand in her larger one and started to lead me out of my daddy's office. I looked back at my daddy, wanting to show him the picture I drew for him._

"_But daddy-"_

"_Kate," my daddy said sternly. _

"_Come on Bella," Kate said softly. She tugged on my hand, and this time I let her pull me out of the room._

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"_Isabella! What was this pretty drawing of yours doing in the trash?" Kate asked, holding up the crumpled drawing I had thrown into the trashcan as soon as I left daddy's office._

"_It's not pwetty," I muttered under my breath. _

"_What do you mean it's not pretty?" Kate asked, crossing the room and sitting down on the floor of my bedroom next to me where I was currently coloring in my coloring book._

"_Daddy didn't like it so it's not pwetty," I explained. Kate's expression softened and she tucked some of my hair behind my ears._

"_Bella, this is a very nice picture. I'm sure your dad loves it." How could he like it when he didn't even look? I didn't ask that, but shrugged instead._

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"_Bella, I have great news!" My mom exclaimed, walking over to where I was eating my dinner alone at the kitchen table._

_I was surprised to see her. Normally she doesn't get home from work until I'm already in bed. Usually Kate eats with me, but she has today off._

_I was curious to see my mom here early since both my mom and dad work late and don't get home until I'm already in bed most nights. Even on the weekends, my dad barricades himself in his office to work. I have learned over the years that his office is off limits. My mom actually works alongside my dad as a screenwriter. They have produced a fair share of movies over the years. But since they are both so dedicated to their work, Kate has turned out to be more of a parental figure to me than my own parents are. _

"_You're going to be in a commercial!" My mom said excitedly. I stared at her, waiting for her to say the punch line or something. _

"_Well?" Mom looked at me expectantly. I swallowed the bite of chicken I had been chewing on._

"_Uh, good?" I didn't know what to say. My mom laughed and pulled out a chair before sitting down. She reached over and grabbed my hand and smiled at me._

"_You're going to be a star!" My mom exclaimed._

"_But Mom, I'm only eight," I stated. Mom waved a hand in dismissal._

"_A lot of celebrities start acting around your age or younger." She gave me another bright smile. "So what do you say?" She looked so hopeful._

"_Sure," I said hesitantly. I was nervous because I didn't know what to expect. My parents had gotten me into acting classes when I was five, but I thought they did that to give me something to do. I guess there was more to it than that…_

_My mom's face broke out into a huge grin at my acceptance. She pulled me into a hug which took me by surprise. I'm not used to my parents giving me hugs. That's mostly to do with the fact that they're never here though…_

"_I'm so proud of you Bella," my mom whispered in my ear. That was the first time I heard those words spoken by her. _

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"_OH. MY. GOD! It's Bella Swan!"_

_Flash_

"_Hey Bella! Over here!"_

_Flash_

"_I can't believe it's her!"_

_Flash_

_Screaming. Crying. So much noise. Flashing cameras. That's what it's been like ever since my first movie premiered. _

_Most normal kids by the age of twelve are having fun playing with their friends, or spending their time playing video games or watching TV. Well, I have never been normal so it isn't a shocker that by the age of twelve I'm currently trying to escape the crazy mob of fans chasing me down the streets of LA. _

_It's my own fault in a way. I shouldn't have taken off like I did. But when my parents announced their imminent divorce, I couldn't help myself. I bolted out the door with tears streaking my face. It's every kid's belief that their parents will always be together. So when my parents explained they were separating, it was a slap in the face. I took off, ignoring their shouts to come back._

_Couldn't the people chasing me see that I was literally falling apart? Didn't they understand that I didn't want to have to fake smiles and sign autographs and have pictures taken of me for one day? Was that too much to ask?_

_Normally it wasn't so bad. I didn't mind the attention most of the time. And usually the fans would just come up to me and ask for an autograph or picture. But occasionally a crowd would form and sometimes they would get aggressive. On a few occasions, some people in the mob would try and get a hold of something I have, like pieces of my clothes or even some of my hair. It was a little scary at times._

_I rounded a corner and pushed myself to go faster, ignoring the sharp pains shooting up my sides from all this running I was doing. As my feet hit the ground, I realized too late that there was a large crack in the pavement. Before I knew what hit me, I found myself flying towards the ground. Almost simultaneously, a stinging pain made itself known on my knee as it made contact with the cement._

_Suddenly, I felt two strong hands hook under my armpits and lift me up. I was about to scream when I felt a hand being placed over my mouth._

"_Shh! Follow me," a male voice said quietly. If I had been in any other situation I would have been more reluctant to obey, but as it was, I was desperate for an escape._

_I noticed that the person who was trying to help me was a boy who looked to be about fourteen. He had russet color skin and was quite tall for his age. _

_He led me around another corner and darted into one of the shops. I followed him through the shop, which contained fishing gear and tents and some other items you would use if you went camping. He led the way into the backroom which I'm guessing only the employees are allowed to be in. As soon as I entered the room, I collapsed on the floor with my back against the wall trying to slow my breathing. After my breathing was back to normal, I turned to my savior to see he had been joined by a man in a wheelchair. The man in the wheelchair was looking at me with a smile on his face. _

"_Thanks," I said to the boy, trying to have the gratitude I was feeling towards him show in my voice. _

_He nodded with a smile before he leaned over me and started inspecting my knee, which I now realized had a huge gash leaking blood down my leg. I turned my head away from the sight, trying hard not to pass out or puke because of all the blood. _

"_I'm Jacob Black by the way," the boy said absentmindedly before turning to the man in the wheelchair. "Hey Dad, where did you put the first aid kit?" This boy named Jacob asked the man, who I now know to be his dad._

"_It's under the counter by the register," the man's gruff voice replied. Jacob nodded and stood before heading through the door into main part of the store._

"_Thank you for letting me hide out here," I said to the man, who I was assuming owned this store. He nodded and smiled at me._

"_It's no trouble. It's not every day you get a celebrity coming into your store. Especially not a store for hiking equipment," the man chuckled. "Although it doesn't look like you had a choice. We saw you through the window and it looked like you could use a place to hide for a while, so Jake went to get you," the man explained. "I'm Billy, Jake's father," the man introduced, holding out his hand. _

"_It's nice to meet you," I said politely while shaking his hand. It was then that Jake returned with the first aid kit._

_He crouched down in front of me and took a look at my knee. _

"_This is going to sting," Jacob warned, before he took an alcohol wipe from the kit and starting blotting at the scrape. I grimaced from the throbbing in my knee as he bandaged it up._

"_There. All done." _

_I smiled at him in appreciation as he stood up to throw away the wrappers the bandages had come in. It was a little strange being bandaged up by a complete stranger, but oddly enough I found that I was comfortable around the two of them._

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After that first encounter, Jake and I started hanging out more. I would stop by Billy's shop and talk with Jake whenever I was bored or wanted someone to talk to. It wasn't long before he became my best friend and Billy became almost like a father to me. He acted more like a father to me than my own one did.

Whenever I stopped by the store, I would try my best to help out. I think Billy was grateful for the extra help I brought him. Apparently, the store was passed down from his father and he was currently struggling to stay afloat. Because of their decline in sales, Billy couldn't hire anyone besides his son. After a while, people started noticing all of the time I spent at Billy's store which resulted in more people shopping there. For once I was appreciative of my popularity.

Over the years, Jake and I grew closer. He was always the one I could count on to be there and listen to me when I needed someone to vent to. Whenever I would get myself worked up about some crazy shit in my life, Jake would do his best to take my mind off of whatever it was. But he did this in his own way.

_For instance, when I got my first bad review, which I had been upset about, he took me rock climbing at Joshua Tree National Park. Another time, when my mom told me I was fat and paid for me to get a personal trainer because "no one wants to watch someone with flab on the big screen," Jake got a hold of two beat up motorcycles. We spent the next couple of weeks fixing them up until they were ready to run._

_The first time I tried to ride it, I didn't release the clutch right and ended up crashing and banging my head against the pavement. The result of that incident was seven stitches near my hairline. _

_Many of the stunts Jake and I have done have resulted in numerous injuries for the both of us. This is mainly the reason my parents don't like him. But they could never keep me away from him. By the time I was fifteen and Jake was seventeen, we blurred the lines of friendship by dating. Things started getting awkward after we lost our virginities to one another, so we decided to just remain friends instead. Looking back, it seems weird that we even attempted dating considering how neither of us have romantic feelings towards the other one._

_We fell into a pattern of chaos for the years to follow. Jake brought me out of my boring shell I had been in. Before I met him, I would work and hardly do anything else. Jake made me see that I could actually have a life. _

_I had never had a friend until him. Pathetic, I know. But it's hard to make friends when your parents force you to be home schooled. I had met a few kids in the acting classes I was in, but they never seemed very friendly to me. A lot of them were a bit snobby, obviously coming from families with money where their parents would spoil them senseless._

_Once Leah, Emmett, and Seth joined our group, things got even better. We would occasionally go to clubs or other venues and have fun. They were always supportive and didn't seem to mind when their pictures would show up alongside mine in the tabloids due to association. They weren't even bothered when the picture headings would name them as "persons unknown."_

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Looking over at Jasper while we made our way to his car, I wondered if he had gone through a similar childhood. The way he seemed to walk without hesitation as people gawked and pointed and took pictures with their camera phones, made me think that he has had one similar to mine. It took me years to be able to master the confident walk when people are shouting my name and jumping up and down from being in my presence.

It was a relief when we made it to his car and got in, finally getting away from the gawking people outside. He started up the car and pretty soon we were on our way.

The fifteen minute drive to my house from the restaurant was spent in relative silence. It was mostly a companionable silence though, which was weird considering how the whole night had been a fiasco with the whole Mike thing. Now come to think of it, I should probably apologize to Mike later for that…

Pretty soon, Jasper pulled up in front of my house. I stared at him curiously as he put the car in park and proceeded to open his door.

"What are you doing?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Walkin' you to your door," he stated bluntly, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I gawked at him.

"Wha-but-why?" I finally managed to spit out. He laughed at my inability to form a complete sentence.

"Because," he started slowly, "someone has to make sure you don't trip over those two left feet you have." I rolled my eyes at his predictable response, but I followed him out of the car anyways.

"Hey what's that?" Jasper asked suddenly, squinting in the direction of my house.

"That is called a _house_. You know, something people live in," I said slowly, like I was talking to an infant. He shook his head at me, looking annoyed and slightly amused.

"Not your house, _that_," he gestured to a white box that was sitting on the doorstep.

I shrugged. I didn't even know FedEx came this late…

As we walked up the remainder of the porch steps, I saw that the box had something written on the top in what looked like red sharpie. As I neared the package, I stopped dead in my tracks. The writing on the top of the box was a verse from the song, _I Will Possess Your Heart,_ by Death Cab for Cutie.

_There are days when outside your window,  
I see my reflection as I slowly pass.  
And I long for this mirrored perspective,  
when we'll be lovers, lovers at last._

But, what made my stomach drop, and bile rise up my throat wasn't the creepy ass lyrics, but the fact that I _knew_ that writing.

"It's him," I croaked.

I looked up at Jasper, only to be taken aback by his expression. It was nothing I had ever seen on his face before. He looked angry, disturbed, and _worried_. For me? No, that couldn't be it.

"We need to call the police about this," he said suddenly. He reached in his pocket for his phone, but I put a hand on his arm to stop him. He looked at me questioningly.

"Not tonight," I said firmly. He looked at me like I had gone insane. Maybe I had. I just knew I didn't want to deal with this right now. I was tired and just wanted to go to bed. He opened his mouth to protest, but I cut him off.

"Not tonight," I said harshly. "I'll call tomorrow. I'm tired and I really don't want to deal with the police right now."

"Dammit Bella, this isn't something you can just put off!" Jasper exploded suddenly.

My eyes widened at his sudden outburst. He took a step closer until our chests were practically touching, him towering over me. I took a step back instinctively, feeling my back press against the closed door behind me. At that moment, I was actually scared of him for once.

After a few tense seconds passed, he seemed to realize the effect he was having on me because he immediately took a few steps back. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. I nodded to show there was no harm done. He closed his eyes like he was in pain before opening them and staring down at me again.

"I overreacted. I just think you aren't taking this as seriously as you should." He paused looking highly disturbed. "This could mean he actually knows where you _live_," he said, glancing at the package that was still lying untouched on my doorstep with that same weird look on his face. "I think you should call the police about this _now_."

I shook my head vehemently. "I'll tell them about this tomorrow. I don't want to have to deal with this right now." Jasper gave me a disapproving look.

"Bella, I think—"

"No," I cut him off, "I'll talk to the police tomorrow. I'm too tired to worry about this right now." He nodded slowly, still looking hesitant.

"Alright, but give me your phone." I stared at him curiously but handed my phone over to him. He pushed a few buttons in before I heard his phone vibrate. He handed my phone back to me.

"Now you have my number and I have yours. Call me if anything happens." He paused before adding, "And lock your doors. Okay?" I nodded and smiled up at him.

"Thanks," I said softly. "Goodnight Jasper." I turned around and opened the door to my house, hearing him walk back down the porch steps.

"Goodnight Darlin'," his response was so quiet that I wondered if I had actually imagined it instead. I smiled as I closed the door behind me, before heading off to bed.

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AN: The next chapter is definitely going to be Jasper's POV! I've already started writing it so hopefully I'll be able to post it soon. I hope the beginning of this chapter wasn't boring...I just felt like I should go into Bella's background a little bit and decided to do that in this chapter.

**So what is the song you think is the creepiest? Mine was always **_**I will Possess your heart**_**, if you could tell, because the lyrics give off a somewhat dark obsessive/stalkerish vibe. lol **

**I posted a sneak peak of my new story at the bottom of my other story. But to those of you who don't follow that one, I posted it again here.**

**Preview:**

Raindrops began to fall around us and one landed awkwardly on my eyelash when I stared up at the black sky. The only semblance of light being the full moon that shone above us. A sudden flash of lightening suddenly illuminated our surroundings briefly followed by a loud clap of thunder. I jumped at the sudden noise, hearing the chuckles from around me.

"You're not scared, are you _Bella_?" Lauren sneered.

"She's doing a lot better than you when it was your initiation," Angela snapped. "At least she hasn't cried for her mommy like _you _did."

Lauren huffed but chose not to respond. If I wasn't so freaked out, I would have found what Angela said funny. But as it was, I had no idea where they were taking me, and I was admittedly frightened of what I was going to have to do tonight.

**I'll try to get this new story out as soon as possible, but it might not happen for a few more weeks.**

**Please review! :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**AN: As promised, here's Jasper's POV!**

**Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts! I'm sorry if I didn't reply to all of the reviews. I've been pretty busy since I changed my major for like the fourth time and had to meet with my advisor a few times and take care of some other stuff. I'm hoping this is the last time I change majors! It's getting a little annoying lol**

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**Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight**

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JPOV

The package on Bella's doorstep was like a vortex. No matter how many times I tried to tear my gaze away from it, my attention kept getting sucked back to the unmoving parcel as if I was half expecting it to be some ticking time bomb that would go off at any moment. I didn't have any idea what the package contained, but I knew that whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Not if it was from the psycho who is responsible for this fuckin' shit storm that I inadvertently found myself becoming involved in.

Bella was currently searching through her purse for her keys, blissfully uncaring about the unknown contents of the package. I couldn't believe that she doesn't seem to care about the fact that some fuckin' weirdo knows where she lives. I looked back up at Bella with the intent of trying to persuade her to call the cops about this. This unemotional crap she is pulling off is really starting to make me worry about her fucked up sense of self-preservation.

"Bella, I think—"

"No," she cut me off as if she knew what I was going to say, "I'll talk to the police tomorrow. I'm too tired to worry about this right now." I nodded reluctantly, not liking this at all.

I looked back at the package, feeling a weird twisting sensation in my stomach as I thought about this unknown psycho coming back tonight. He was like some predator, stalking in the shadows and bidding his time. It already immensely disturbed me that he got as close as her doorstep. But I knew that if I kept pushing for her to call the cops, I would more than likely get _another_ ass chewing tonight.

"Alright, but give me your phone," I said suddenly.

She stared at me with her eyebrows raised, but handed her phone over to me after a slight moment of hesitation.

I almost smiled at the picture on the screen of her phone. It was of her and that friend of hers, Leeann or Lucy or something like that. They had their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders and were soaking wet from the rain, each of them wearing big goofy grins while they had apparently just jumped into a puddle sending water flying up in the air.

I tore my attention away from the picture, and continued to program my number into her phone. I made sure to call my phone from hers so that I would have her number also. This way I would at least know who was calling, that is if she ever _did_ call.

"Now you have my number and I have yours. Call me if anything happens. And lock your doors. Okay?" I added as an afterthought. She nodded in response.

"Thanks. Goodnight Jasper." Her voice was soft, taking me a little by surprise at how civil she sounded. This hot and cold arrangement we have going on is giving me fuckin' whiplash. I turned around and walked back down the steps, heading towards where my car was parked in front of her house.

"Goodnight Darlin'," I said softly, over my shoulder, not knowing if she could even hear me.

As I got back to my car and got in, I looked back up at her house. She had already gone inside and not long after, I could see a light come on through a window which I assumed was her room. I sat there a little while longer, contemplating about this weird feeling I was experiencing a lot lately. It was a mix between me wanting to run around smiling like an idiot and singing show tunes, or me feeling like I was going to puke my guts out.

What is going on with me? This messed up feeling keeps coming back whenever Bella is involved. Normally, I wouldn't find it so strange that I felt like purging the contents of my stomach while in her presence. That's a pretty normal reaction for me as far as _she_ is concerned. But it's the smiling part that is baffling. This feeling has been growing for the past couple of weeks, and it is seriously starting to freak me out. I shook those thoughts off as I put the keys in the ignition and started up my car.

I glanced up at her house one more time, seeing that she had turned off the light, before driving away. The farther away from her house I got, the worse this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach got. Thoughts of this psycho knowing where she lives kept circling through my head on repeat. The more I tried to force these thoughts away, the more these thoughts seemed to be screaming at me.

"Shit!" I cursed as a black cat darted in front of my car, seemingly out of nowhere.

I slammed on the brakes and watched as the cat scampered away into the night. Aren't black cats that cross your path supposed to bring bad luck or some shit like that? I snorted out loud to my thoughts. Wow. I'm actually turning into some superstitious idiot. Bella would get a kick out of this shit. She would never let me hear the end of it, that's for fuckin' sure.

I shook my head again. This whole hostility thing that has been between us for so long is completely idiotic. I remember that first day we met like it happened yesterday. I was 25 years old at the time and had been acting for about 8 years, having started when I was 17.

_Flashback_

"_Stupid fuckin' alarm clock!" I cursed, as I ran into the bathroom and swiped some shaving cream across my chin before grabbing my razor. In my haste, I managed to nick myself at least a dozen times. This was just great! The day of my audition for __Blue Skies__, and my alarm clock decides to malfunction. If I get there on time it will be a fucking miracle!_

_Ignoring the razor burn I was currently sporting, I grabbed my toothbrush and proceeded to brush my teeth hurriedly, before running back into my room to grab my keys that were on my dresser. I had just gotten to the bottom of the stairs when I realized I was only wearing my boxers._

"_Dammit!" I cursed again while running back up the stairs, taking two at a time, to get dressed. As soon as I had my shirt over my head and my pants zipped up, I ran back down the stairs and out to my car._

_As soon as I was in my car and had it started, I was zooming out of the driveway. The tires squealed as I shot out of there, startling some birds in a nearby tree into taking flight. I looked at the clock and pressed harder on the gas when I saw the time. _

_As soon as I was at the studio, I sped into the parking lot and parked, not caring that my car was practically sideways across three spots. I didn't have time to correct my parking job. _

_I ran into the studio, not stopping until I was near where I needed to be for my audition. Leaning against a wall, I bent over at the waist and put my hands on my knees in an effort to control my breathing. I don't know how long I stood there trying to cool down, when a small hand touched my arm. I looked up to see a small girl with spiky black hair standing in front of me with a big smile. She held out the cup of coffee that she had in her hand._

"_Here, it looks like you could use a cup," she said cheerfully. I smiled in appreciation before taking the coffee from her._

"_I'm Alice," she said, after I had taken a few sips of the steaming hot drink. _

"_Jasper Whitlock," I introduced in a drawl. She giggled and nodded._

"_Yeah I know," she said simply. "By the way, you have dried toothpaste all over your mouth." I groaned at this, causing her to giggle again. I looked at my watch and sighed in relief when I saw I had some time to spare before my audition. At least my crazy driving got me here in enough time to get cleaned up._

"_Do you know where the bathroom is?" I asked hopefully. She nodded and pointed to the right._

"_It's down that hallway." I smiled and thanked her before heading in that direction. _

_That's when I saw _her. _I had known that Bella Swan would be auditioning for this show also, but it was still shocking to see her right in front of me. I had always thought she was an amazing actress, not to mention how fuck hot she is. When I was younger, she had even been my celebrity crush. And now here she is, right in front of me. My feet seemed to take on a life of their own as they led me in her direction. I was completely lost in my thoughts about Bella Swan, when I suddenly collided with the actress herself, sending her sprawling to the ground. My coffee slipped out of my hand and much to my horror, it spilled all over her._

_"Shit! I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, completely mortified with this new turn of events. I reached a hand down to help her up but she ignored it and jumped back to her feet. The glare she sent me made me want to run for the hills._

"_Fuck! This better come off! Watch where you're going next time!" She hissed, appraising the damage done to her dress. She then looked up at my face and her chocolate eyes locked onto mine. I had to mentally shake myself to get away from the inappropriate direction my thoughts had taken. _

_"Look, I'm sorry. I was running late so I was in a hurry-" I started to say, trying to come up with an excuse for running into her that wouldn't make me seem like some weirdo, but she cut me off. _

_"Not my problem. And FYI, when you are auditioning for a part in a show, movie, or whatever, you are supposed to get there early so this kind of thing doesn't happen!" She waved a hand angrily over the stain._

_"I know what to do for an audition," I said, coming to my own defense and unable to control the hard tone my voice had suddenly taken._

_"Obviously not," she snapped at me. We glared at one another before she turned and stormed away from me. Well, that encounter didn't go as I had expected…_

_End of flashback _

After that first encounter, the two of us have been constantly at each other's throats. It's so fuckin' stupid when I think about it, but my pride and her stubbornness are the catalysts of so many of our fights.

I can't believe I let her get to me like this. No one else seems to have this effect on me. Maybe that's because no one else seems to have the balls to tear me down a notch, well except for my twin Rosalie. I swear those two would become close if this hostility between our two groups of friends would diminish. My friends have no reason to hate Bella like they do, except for this stupid grudge we have going on. They seem to feel like they would be betraying me if they were nice to Bella.

I beat my hands against the steering wheel when I realized I was still stopped where that damn cat had run in front of my car. What the fuck is wrong with me? I just know that it doesn't feel right to leave Bella alone when that psycho seems to know where she lives. I groaned and rubbed my hands over my face before turning the car around and heading back towards her house.

Once I was in front of her house, I put the car in park and turned it off. I glanced back up at her house, coming to the conclusion that I would just drive off once the sun started coming up, that way she wouldn't even know I was here. I was starting to feel like some fuckin' creep, sitting here outside her house at night.

I shook those thoughts off as I laid my head against the headrest and closed my eyes as they started getting heavier. I would only sleep for a few minutes…

* * *

I heard a tap on my window and jumped, intent on kicking some stalker ass, before I realized it was just a very confused Bella standing outside my car. I internally cringed at being caught outside her house, but rolled the window down none the less. The bright light from the morning sun momentarily blinded me as I blinked the sleep from my eyes.

"Jasper, you're not stalking me now, are you?" There was a hint of amusement in her voice. "Because you'll have to wait in line." I tensed when she said this. How could she joke about something this serious?

"I'm not stalking you!" I snapped.

Her eyes widened and she took a step back. I groaned and dropped my head back on the headrest, staring at the ceiling of the car. I didn't mean to snap at her, but I hadn't gotten much sleep last night and a car seat really isn't the most comfortable place to spend a night, so I was a little irritable this morning apparently. I wasn't going to admit all of this to her though. She didn't need to know that I spent the whole night outside her house. I turned to face her again.

"Look, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I've had a pretty shitty night." She nodded slowly.

"But, what are you doing here?" She asked cautiously, as if afraid of setting me off.

I hesitated and tried to come up with something to tell her. I could tell her the partial truth I guess… I sighed and ran a hand through my hair out of frustration.

"I was worried about you after you got that package last night, so I wanted to stop by this morning to see if you were okay."

Her face portrayed her shock as her eyes popped comically wide and her mouth gaped open. I looked away, slightly embarrassed at being caught.

"You. Were. _Worried_," she said slowly, as if she was trying the words out on her tongue. Her eyebrows knitted together like she was unable to understand the words in that order. I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, avoiding eye contact.

I was sure that if I looked back at her she would be giving me that mocking expression I'm so accustomed to seeing on her face. But, when I looked back at her it was _my_ turn to be surprised. She was smiling at me, but not in the derogatory way she normally would. It was a genuine smile directed at _me_.

"Thanks for caring," she said sincerely, "although, it wasn't really necessary. Everything turned out alright—"

"Yeah but I didn't know that last night. The person who sent you that note could have come back," I said reasonably.

I was still feeling uneasy about this whole thing and I didn't like the fact that she was acting so blasé about this. Didn't she understand that this person was seemingly dangerous?

She shrugged in response to my concern, not seeming to care that some creep was at her house last night. I scrutinized her face carefully and saw that even though she was brushing this off as nothing, her eyes gave her away. I have always been pretty good at reading people and I could detect the unease and slight fear she was trying to hide from me. Before I could say anything though, she spoke up.

"Well, why don't you come in? I was just about to make some breakfast." She looked over my face carefully. "Are you hungry?" It was then that my stomach gave an embarrassing rumble, effectively answering her question for me. She laughed, making me smile in return.

"I'll take that as a yes," she said with a smile.

This friendliness between the two of us was still so weird. Wasn't it just yesterday that I threw a snail down her shirt? I wanted to face palm myself with that memory. I don't even know why I was acting that way last night. I just remembered Bella leaning closer to Mike as if she wanted to kiss him, subsequently causing some unpleasant feeling to rise to the surface within me. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought it was _jealousy_. Nah, that couldn't be it. Why in the name of all things holy would I be jealous of _Mike_? That thought was amazingly laughable. No, jealousy couldn't be it.

I was brought back to the present by the clearing of a throat. I looked up to see an amused looking Bella staring at me with her eyebrows raised.

"For a moment there I thought I lost you. Mind filling me in on what you were thinking about so intensely that it caused you to zone out like that?"

"Snails." I blurted without thinking.

Apparently that wasn't what she thought I would say because she released a very unladylike snort, before she slapped her hand over her mouth as if she could somehow shove that snort back where it came from. She shook her head and laughed, snort-free this time.

"Yeah, well I don't think I'll be able to have dinner there with a straight face from now on." She shook her head and laughed again. "I should probably be more pissed off at you, but I'm starting to find the whole thing funny. Poor Mike though." She laughed as I scowled at the mention of Mike. What the fuck? Why am I scowling? I shook that thought off, like I've been doing a lot lately, and followed Bella to her front door.

* * *

"Hold up!" Bella exclaimed, wearing a disbelieving expression. "Are you actually telling me that you went _skydiving_?" She asked incredulously.

We were currently sitting in her kitchen, eating the French toast and bacon she had made. That girl can seriously cook, I'll give her that. We had been talking about inconsequential things, from our favorite colors to how we got into the acting biz. I had told her about how I began acting at the age of 17 when I was a junior in high school. She got a kick out of me telling her that I played the lead role in "Robin Hood," which subsequently led to a scout from Julliard approaching me which in turn got me my full ride to the performing arts school so I could pursue a drama major.

The little bit of information about the play had her teasing me about those god awful tights I was forced to wear for my part of "Robin Hood." Occasionally during our conversation, we would tease each other, letting our usual way of interacting with the other shine through, but it seemed more lighthearted and good-natured than it had been in the past.

The more we talked, the more I realized that it was surprisingly easy to talk to her. There were no awkward pauses, like there used to be, once we had started talking of our interests. Surprisingly we found that we had a few things in common.

For instance, just now I told her of my love for extreme sports, which shockingly she seems to share. After inquiring about what kind of stunts I liked to do, I told her the story of my 18th birthday when my high school friends, Peter and Garrett, took me to go skydiving. I had been in my hometown in Texas at the time and the view of the mountain tops from up high in the sky was fuckin' incredible.

I remembered getting an amazing view of the striking purplish-red color to the mountains that I was accustomed to seeing during the early morning, along with the rising sun on the horizon. Bella had been enthralled by my account of this experience, and listened with rapt attention as I described the feeling of panic I experienced as I looked down on the ground, which just so happened to be 13,000 feet below us, as I mentally prepared myself to jump out of the plane.

As I talked, I recalled the adrenaline pumping through my veins as I took that jump with the guy who was attached to me, after all no one without a skydiving license could do anything other than tandem jumping. She listened to me as I recounted the rapid drop that sent my stomach up into my throat, and then the tugging sensation I experience once the chute was released. She seemed enraptured by my description of the scenic descent once the parachute had been deployed, as I remembered the way the trees and mountains seemed to grow larger as the ground came closer. Once I was finished, she stared at me with that shocked expression on her face.

"Skydiving? Seriously? _You_?" She didn't seem to be able to form a complete sentence. I feigned a hurt expression as I nodded.

"What, you don't think I have what it takes?" My voice sounded just as saddened as my expression surely looked. I mentally patted myself on the back for my brilliant acting skills, while bowing for an imaginary audience.

"No! You just don't seem like…I mean…I didn't…"

I mentally sniggered as she backtracked over her words thinking she had actually offended me, probably trying to get back to the carefree conversation we had been having. She stopped babbling when she saw the grin that was spreading across my face, causing her to slap my arm and huff.

"Jerk," she muttered, but she couldn't control the twitch of her lips as she fought not to smile. "I've never done something _that_ extreme. I mean, I've gone cliff diving and bungee jumping, but I've never jumped from _13,000 feet_." She shook her head, wearing an awed look. I smiled slightly at her wistful expression.

"I could take you," I said suddenly. Whoa! Where did _that_ come from? She looked shocked before she gave me a skeptical expression.

"Trying to get me that far up in the air so you can push me out of a plane _without_ the parachute?" She asked with a serious tone. I rolled my eyes and laughed at her display.

"You caught me," I held up my hands as she slapped me playfully in the arm again. "Just kidding," I laughed. "But seriously, I have a license in skydiving now. If you wanted to go, you wouldn't have to be strapped to some strange instructor. I could jump with you." She gave me such a bright smile that I couldn't help but return it.

"Seriously?" She asked excitedly. I nodded causing her smile to widen.

"Yup," I said casually, popping the 'p'.

I don't know where this easy alliance was coming from, but I found that I actually like it. It was nice talking to her like this, without all the insults thrown into the mix. I just wondered if it would last…

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AN: I actually had a different ending planned for this chapter, but it somehow changed as I was writing…I swear this story has a life of its own sometimes! :O

**So, do any of you have any ideas about what's in the package? I'm interested in hearing what you think will be in it…**

**Anyways, thanks for reading! Sorry for the wait. I was having some serious writer's block. The next chapter shouldn't take so long because I already have it all planned out. And I'll try to get right on updating ITSVHNTLI (That's a long abbreviation lol). I've been experiencing some writer's block with that story as well though… **

**Also, I have the first chapter of my new story posted for anyone who is interested.**

**Please review! :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews favorites and alerts! I hope you all enjoy this one! :)**

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**Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight**

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BPOV

Saturday nights were never an uneventful time for me. There was always _something_ to do. And even if there wasn't, my friends were always there to keep me preoccupied. I can't remember the last Saturday that I didn't have mapped out. Until now.

I slammed the phone back onto the cradle on the wall after getting Seth's voicemail for what seemed like the millionth time. I had already tried calling Emmett twice as much, only to get his voicemail as well. A boring Saturday night is an unfathomable concept for me, but I was dangerously close to having one of them.

I rubbed my hands down my face out of irritation and picked the phone back off the cradle a little too aggressively, nearly causing the damn thing to be ripped off the wall in the process, before dialing Emmett's number again.

"You have reached Emmett McCarty's dating service. If you like the strong, irresistible type, then please leave your name and what time you will be available for a date at the sound of the tone...except if you're a dude. Sorry. I don't roll that way." _Beep_. I rolled my eyes at his message.

"Emmett McCarty! Where the _fuck_ are you? I've been trying to get a hold of you and Seth for the past few days! I'm starting to think you two are avoiding me!" I sighed and leaned against the wall.

"Could you please just call me back? You guys are starting to make me worry," I admitted, not liking their lengthy, unexplained absence. "And does that message actually work in getting you dates? I'm just saying…" I laughed, attempting to ease my worries about their whereabouts, as I hung up.

I sighed as I made my way over to the kitchen table and plopped down in one of the chairs. Now what was I supposed to do? I was itching to do something or go somewhere. I mean, it's Saturday night for fucks sake! But Emmett and Seth have apparently disappeared off the face of the earth. Not to mention that Jake and Leah were still on their vacation in France, leaving me with absolutely nothing to do.

I had already memorized my lines from the new script and preoccupied myself with cleaning every surface of my house, allowing my OCD side to come out. By now, the house actually sparkled. I even went for an hour jog and took a bubble bath in my Jacuzzi style tub when I got back.

My feet were bouncing with my inability to sit still for long, as my fingers drummed a steady rhythm on the table. If Leah had been here, I would have just dragged her to _Eclipse_ for a night out, but since she's not here and I couldn't get a hold of the others, I seemed to be on my own tonight. I groaned out loud. It's _Saturday_. I should be doing _something_, not cooped up in my house moping around since no one is here to keep me company.

I huffed in irritation as I stood up from my perch at the kitchen table. I wandered around the house aimlessly for a bit, before plopping down on the cushy couch in the living room in front of the huge flat screen TV and grabbing the remote. After clicking the TV on, I flipped through the channels mindlessly. I smiled when I stopped on a channel, hearing the familiar theme song playing as the opening credits of the show began.

Blue skies calling on blue skies  
Don't take them away boys  
Don't take them away  
'Cause I'll never stop

I've been to both knees  
Raise my hands up to the sky, forgive me

Is something out there far beyond the clouds  
I'm asking help me  
Help me to see the world  
Through baby eyes and hold me closely  
I need a fresh start on the roller-coaster made for coasting

It's time to wake up  
Time to make up  
Time to shake these memories  
It's time to leave the past in the past and lace up a new set of shoe strings

I want the world to know  
I've got your back  
Through up and down see  
So we can sit together  
Side by side through amazing

As the theme song was playing, I watched as I appeared on the screen with my name, followed by Jasper, Alice, and the rest of the cast before the show began. It was a rerun of the episode when my character's stalker disappeared without a trace.

I watched the beginning of the show, smiling as Jasper and I interacted on the screen. I remembered how hostile we had been to each other after certain scenes were wrapped up on set. I thought back to this morning and how things have changed so much between us. Before, I always imagined Jasper to be some arrogant asshole who couldn't keep his dick in his pants. Now, I see a whole new side to him that caught me completely off guard.

_Flashback_

_The sunlight streamed through the windows in my room, waking me up from the deep sleep I had fallen in after that disastrous dinner with Mike. I still didn't understand why Jasper was acting so weird last night. I shook those thoughts off as I got up and stretched. It was way too early to analyze the oddity that is Jasper._

_Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I traipsed downstairs to brew a pot of coffee. I would be practically dead the rest of the day if I didn't feed my caffeine addiction with my usual cup of coffee in the morning. It was then, as I was filling the coffee maker with water, that I looked out the window into the front yard and saw a familiar car sitting in the front of my house. I stared in shock at Jasper's car being here._

_After I had turned the coffee maker on, hearing the gurgling sound of it starting up, I put some shoes on and went outside to see what he was doing here. _

_It took all my effort to keep from laughing my ass off at the sight before me as I stopped by the driver's side window of his car. Jasper's face was pressed up against the glass, drool leaking out the corner of his mouth, the glass fogging up every time he exhaled. Letting my curiosity get the better of me, I knocked on the window causing Jasper to jerk upright with wide, wild eyes. He relaxed when he saw me. _

"_Jasper, you're not stalking me now are you? Because you'll have to wait in line." I was astonished at the reaction I got from saying that. Jasper's eyes darkened and anger set into his features. _

"_I'm not stalking you!" The biting tone of his voice caught me off guard. _

_I instinctively took a step back. He looked pretty intimidating at that second. After a moment, he groaned and turned his gaze away from me as he explained what he was doing outside my house. Wait. He was worried? _

"_You. Were. Worried?" I repeated his words slowly, making sure that I had heard him right. _

_What kind of alternate reality did I step into? I could just picture this weird phenomenon being investigated over at the Pentagon right behind the Bermuda triangle and the UFO sighting in Roswell, New Mexico. I mentally sniggered at the image in my head about the army guys running around the Pentagon trying to investigate the cause of the strange disturbance in Los Angeles, California. Jasper Whitlock worried about me, Bella Swan._

_I shook my head, trying to get my overactive mind to shut up. When I glanced back at Jasper, it looked like he was avoiding my gaze. He seemed almost _embarrassed_. It was actually really sweet of him to go out of his way and come over to my house this morning to check on me._

_I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I thought about him actually caring about what happens to me. My reaction seemed to surprise Jasper when he next looked at me, because his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion in the cutest way. Wait. Did I just put 'cute' and 'Jasper' in the same sentence? _

_I shook that thought off as I asked him if he wanted to come in for breakfast. I mean the least I could do is give him a meal after he came all the way over here to see if I'm okay._

_I was amazed as we fell into an easy conversation while we ate, astonished with how comfortable we seemed to be with each other at the moment. What shocked me even more was how much the two of us seem to have in common, although there were some significant differences too. _

_I found myself fascinated with the stories he told me about when he was in high school. Having never gone to a public school in my life, his stories interested me more than they probably should have. I listened intently while he talked, trying not to give much thought to how he would look in the tights he said he had to wear for his part in his high school's production of Robin Hood. _

_Even a few hours after he had left, I found myself thinking about the conversation we had. Who knew he could be so easy to talk to?_

_End of flashback_

I smiled thinking about that conversation we had this morning, half thinking it was all some bizarre dream. I always had him pegged as the shallow, thinking with his dick, type of guy. But after last night, he completely shook my original thoughts of him out of whack. And then when he asked if I wanted to go skydiving with him, I think my brain short circuited. I don't know whether I trust him enough to jump out of a plane with him…but we're getting there…maybe.

Growing bored with watching a rerun of the show, I changed the channel, trying to find something that would hold my interest. After a while, I stopped on an HBO channel when I saw that the next movie would be _The Grudge_. I had wanted to see it for a while now, but I had figured I would just watch it with Leah.

My friends are well aware of how I get after watching horror movies. Emmett finds it hilarious how paranoid I get after watching them. Jake and Emmett have made a game of it over the years, betting on who can make me shriek the most until I chase them out of whoever's house we are in at the time, while Seth and Leah stand to the side laughing their asses off.

I turned my attention back to the TV screen, seeing that the movie was just beginning.

"_When someone dies in a grip of a powerful rage…a curse is born."_

I shuddered, drawing my legs up to my chest as I read the words on the screen. I could tell I would be freaking out by the end of the movie.

"_The curse gathers in that place of death."_

I eyed the remote, calculating whether I should just change the channel and save myself the paranoia that would surely come with watching this movie.

"_Those who encounter it will be consumed by its fury." _

Why am I still watching this? Shit! Did that guy just jump off the balcony? I clutched my legs tighter to my chest and stared wide eyed at the screen.

I shuddered as the movie got to the part where the girl is crawling down the stairs, popping her joints along the way. That is some creepy shit! By the end of the movie, I had one of the pillows from the couch clutched to my chest as my hands trembled slightly with my knees curled underneath me.

Just now noticing my dry throat, I uncurled my legs and stood up slowly, stretching out my stiff joints in the process. Ignoring the prickling in my legs from them waking up, I headed towards the kitchen to get a glass of water, looking over my shoulder every couple steps I took to make sure the creepy girl from _The Grudge_ wasn't standing behind me. I think I would piss myself if _that_ happened…

After filling up a glass with water, I walked over towards the kitchen table, staring out the window that led to my front yard. I made my way over to it to shut the blinds, when I stopped dead in my tracks.

I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. _I'm just seeing things because of that movie. There's nothing there. _I kept repeating these thoughts in my head before opening my eyes, convinced that it was in my imagination.

I froze when I looked back out the window and dropped the glass, vaguely hearing the glass shatter on the tile of the kitchen floor. My mouth opened in some kind of silent scream as I stared out into the night. The figure that was standing there and staring at me a few feet away was definitely _not_ in my imagination. The figure had been farther away a few moments ago, making it easier to think of as a hallucination, but now whoever it was stood with his face mere inches from the window. The only thing separating us was the pane of glass.

I stood rooted to the spot, paralyzed with fear as I maintained eye contact with the stranger. The darkness from the night prevented me from making out his features, but I could tell he was wearing some kind of hoody and had the hood pulled up over his head. My eyes widened when he placed a large hand on the glass that was keeping him out.

At this, my senses seemed to return to me and I unfroze. I barely registered the sharp pain that shot through my foot as I ran out of the kitchen and took off in the direction of the living room, heading towards the stairs. I stumbled over my feet as I ran up the stairs, shaking as I made my way into my bedroom. I flicked off the lights before locking the door and sliding down it until my ass hit the carpet of the floor. I drew my knees up to my chest and tried to slow my breathing as I tried to clear my panicked mind.

_What am I doing? I need to call someone!_ I almost smacked myself upside the head with that thought. I glanced up from my knees, and spotted my phone on the dresser. I crawled over to it, as if standing up would be a disastrous thing to do, and reached a trembling hand up, wrapping my hand around my phone.

I flipped through my contacts and called the first person that came to mind, hoping he would pick up. He answered after the third ring, much to my relief.

"Bella?" Jasper's voice asked uncertainly. I exhaled a shaky breath, relieved that he answered.

"J-Jas-Japer," I stuttered, my voice breaking on his name.

"Bella! What's wrong?" Jasper asked frantically, having caught onto my panicked state. My breathing sped up as I thought about the guy still being out there.

"There's someone here," I whispered, my hands shaking as I said the words.

"What?" Jasper yelled. I could hear the jingling of keys on his end of the line. "I'm on my way. You're at your house, right?" I could tell Jasper was trying to keep his voice controlled as to not freak me out anymore than I already was.

"Yeah," I whispered again.

"Alright, where in your house are you?" He asked in that same calm tone.

"My bedroom," I answered shakily.

"Okay. I want you to stay right where you are until I get there," he said in a strained voice. I nodded before realizing he couldn't see through the phone.

"O-okay," I breathed.

"I'm going to stay on the phone until I get to your house, alright?"

I was about to answer him, when a sudden thumping noise caused me to jump and shriek, making me drop the phone. I placed a hand over my hammering heart as I realized it was just the tree outside my window which was tapping against the glass. As I slowly calmed down, I realized that Jasper was yelling my name into the phone which was lying on the floor beside me. I picked it up with a shaky hand and put it back to my ear, grimacing as he yelled my name again into the receiver.

"Bella, talk to me," Jasper said in a panicked voice, his calm facade had long since been abandoned. I released a shaky breath as I brought my knees up to my chest.

"H-he was right there," I whispered. "He was right fucking there, Jasper," I said in a slightly stronger voice. "H-he was just standing there, st-staring at me through the w-window." My breathing was increasing with every word I spoke. I knew I was on my way to hyperventilating. My breathing was coming in shorter and quicker, until I was gasping for air. I was vaguely aware of Jasper talking to me still on the phone.

"Bella, I need you to calm down," Jasper drawled, his accent stronger than usual. I briefly wondered if his accent came out more strongly in stressful situations.

I closed my eyes and forced myself to take slower breaths. After a while, I was able to focus more on what Jasper was saying.

"Shh Bella, it's alright darlin'. I'll be there soon. I just need you to calm down for me. Can you do that?" My breathing was slowing down even more as I focused on the soothing sound of his voice. There was a calming presence that Jasper seems to exude that I have noticed a lot lately.

"I'm almost there," Jasper said, bringing a huge amount of relief to me as he said those words.

I relaxed slightly as I realized that I wouldn't be alone much longer with that creeper outside my house. With that thought, I focused on Jasper's comforting words as I waited for him to arrive.

**

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**

AN: The theme song I used for the show is called _**Blue Skies**_**, by Blue October. I heard that they played this song at the Breaking Dawn concert in LA. **

**My midterms are basically over, so updates should hopefully pick up. Fanfiction is seriously annoying me though. It took me almost an hour to update this story because sentences kept getting moved around and other stuff kept happening whenever I would save the changes. Ugh I'm so annoyed with this site right now! Grrr... Sorry for the mini rant, but I almost gave up on updating today. Gah! Is anyone else having problems with this site?**

**I am officially a review junkie, so go on and press that button down there and feed my addiction! Teehee ;) **


	13. Chapter 13

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites and alerts! I was completely amazed at the response the last chapter received, so thank you to everyone who reviewed! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. **

**Warning: There is some slightly mature content in this chapter (near the end). From now on, the M rating of this story will be coming more into play, so for anyone under 18 you know what to do.**

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**Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight **

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BPOV

"I'm pulling up in front of your house right now," Jasper's voice said calmly through the phone that was still pressed up to my ear.

I closed my eyes and breathed a sigh of relief at his words. From my position on the floor, I pulled my knees up against my chest and wrapped one of my arms around my legs, the other hand still holding the phone to my ear.

Now that I was a little calmer, I was baffled at why Jasper was the first person I thought to call when I saw that guy standing outside my house. A normal person's first response would probably be to call the cops, but since when have I ever deemed myself normal?

It still made me wonder why Jasper was the one I called. I kept telling myself that it was because Jake and Leah were still out of town, and Emmett and Seth weren't returning my phone calls for some unknown reason. But then I kept wondering why I didn't just call the cops instead.

I jumped as the doorbell rang throughout the house, effectively bringing me out of my thoughts, a very uncharacteristic squeak making its way passed my lips.

"Bella, it's just me. Can you let me in?" Jasper said tentatively through the phone, in response to my pathetic yelp.

"Yeah," I breathed as I stood up on shaky legs, closing the phone and setting it down on the dresser.

I unlocked my bedroom door, before slowly creeping towards the stairs, cursing my earlier decision to keep the downstairs lights off when I was watching _The Grudge_. I scanned the downstairs, squinting in the darkness, almost ready for the creeper to jump out at me from behind the couch. Or maybe he was hiding behind the drapes…

I jumped as the doorbell rang again, followed by loud pounding on the door. I guess Jasper was getting impatient for me to answer the door.

I quickened my steps down the stairs and peered out of the peephole once I had reached the front door, relieved to see the familiar mess of blonde hair. Without a second thought, I flung the door open and launched myself at Jasper, hearing a masculine "oomph" as my body collided with his, my arms going around his neck.

He hesitated, probably surprised by my actions, before his arms wrapped around my waist, his hand rubbing my back in a soothing gesture. I stiffened in his embrace as my actions finally registered in my brain, making me realize that I was currently clinging to _Jasper_, the guy who up until recently had been the bane of my existence. I pulled away from him and shifted my gaze over his shoulder, feeling slightly awkward with the way I had just thrown myself at the guy.

"Come on in," I said hesitantly, not meeting his eyes as I stepped aside so he could enter my house.

I heard him chuckle slightly as he brushed by me to get inside, his arm grazing mine in the process. What he found so amusing about this situation was beyond me.

I closed the door and locked it before turning to face him, seeing that he had made himself at home on the couch in the living room. He looked so at ease as if coming over to my house was an everyday occurrence for him.

I made my way over to the couch and plopped down next to him, curling my legs underneath me. I chewed on my lip and tried to control my jumpiness, feeling the aftereffects of that massive adrenaline rush I had just experienced. I couldn't stop thinking about the guy that might still be outside, causing me to glance towards the nearest window as if he would suddenly appear.

"You know, you didn't have to make up some story to get me over here," Jasper broke the silence suddenly, reminding me of his presence. I glanced up at him and cocked on eyebrow.

"Huh?" Was my brilliant reply.

"I know you can't resist being in my presence, but couldn't this have waited? I mean, it's-" he glanced at his watch, "three in the morning."

I stared at him with my mouth hanging open before I blinked slowly, trying to get my brain to start working again. Did he just accuse me of making this story up so that I could have him come over to my house?

"I think we need to call a doctor," I said finally in a mock serious tone. He stared at me with his eyebrows raised.

"Why?" He asked slowly, his lips twitching as if he was struggling not to smile.

"Because you're clearly delusional," I said innocently. He chuckled and shook his head at my lame response.

"Good one," he said sarcastically, throwing me one of his signature smirks.

I smiled as I realized what he was doing. This was his way of getting my mind off that creeper that kept popping up in my life…at least for a little while. Recently, ever since I had started spending time with him, I noticed that Jasper is pretty good at telling what people are feeling. It's kind of spooky at times the way he just _knows_.

"Thanks for coming," I said sincerely, looking at him from under my lashes almost shyly. That was new for me. I'm definitely not the _shy_ type.

He nodded in response, his smile dropping off his face to be replaced by a serious expression, one that I had very rarely seen him wear.

"I checked all around your house when I got here, but it seems the guy ran off." I breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed back into the cushions of the couch. "You should—"

"Call the police, I know," I cut him off with a sigh. "Just let me call down first, kay?" He nodded and crossed his ankle over his knee.

"Crazy weekend, huh?" He said with a smile. I laughed anxiously and nodded.

"You can say that again."

"So, did you open that up?" Jasper asked, nodding his head in the direction of the package that was still sitting on the coffee table in front of us. I had placed it there earlier, not having worked up the courage to open it yet.

"No," I sighed. "To be honest, I'm a little afraid of what I'll find in there." He nodded his head in understanding.

There was no denying how curious I was. I had been finding it harder and harder not to just open it, but I was hesitant. What if it was a dead animal or something like that? But now that Jasper was here, I felt safe and a lot braver. These were weird feelings to have around him, considering how we used to make each other's lives a living hell.

My curiosity got the best of me and I reached forward and grabbed the box off the table. I shared a glance with Jasper before turning my attention back to the box. A shudder worked its way up my spine as I re-read the creepy lyrics this guy had written on the top of the box. I averted my gaze from the words and mentally prepared myself to finally open it.

"I guess there's no time like the present," I muttered to myself, and yanked the top of the box off.

I almost expected some of those joke snakes to come popping out at me. I mentally rolled my eyes at myself for thinking that. Instead, there was just a smaller rectangular box, with a folded note on top of it. I picked the two items up and set the smaller box aside. I unfolded the note to see what it said:

_Bella,_

_I'm sorry for scaring you that night you were jogging. That was the last thing I wanted to do. _

The guy that grabbed me that night was him? I felt sick just thinking how close I had been to him. I hesitantly turned my attention back to the note.

_To make it up to you, I got you a little something. No matter how much it upsets me to admit this, _

_I understand that you cared about that undeserving piece of filth. _

I wrinkled my nose at that. Who was he talking about? Maybe it was Paul… I looked back at the note in my hand with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach.

_So, even though it pains me to do this, I thought you would like to have something to remember him by._

_I want you to remember that your happiness is the most important thing to me,_

_so I give this to you with no further hesitation on my part. _

That feeling of dread was starting to turn into a feeling of nausea. I could practically feel the color draining from my face. I eyed the box warily, trying to guess what was in it, before turning back to the note.

_I know that it will look a lot better on you than it did on him. _

_With all my love,_

_Your devoted soul mate_

Soul mate? I read those two words over and over again, not able to comprehend the absurdity of that statement. This guy was seriously delusional if he thought we were soul mates! There was now no doubt in my mind that he was behind Paul's death. Sure, he never talked about Paul outright in that note, but all the clues pointed to him.

"Bella?" Jasper asked softly.

I looked back up at him blankly and handed him the note without a word. His eyebrows scrunched together as he frowned at the note, but he took it from me silently. I watched as he read it, and the way his jaw clenched with every line he read, until he finally looked back up at me. It was obvious he didn't know what to say. What _do_ you say to someone who just got a creepy-ass note from their stalker telling them that there is something from their dead ex-boyfriend in the package they left on their doorstep? That is just fucked up!

I glanced back at the tiny box I had put aside. I took a deep breath and snatched it up. I eyed it for a moment, mentally preparing myself for whatever it was that I would find in it. God, I hope it's not a body part! I knew Van Gogh cut off his earlobe and sent it to the girl he liked… I shuddered at the prospect of finding Paul's shriveled up earlobe inside this tiny box.

"Bella—" I jumped at the sound of Jasper's voice. I had gotten so caught up in my thoughts that I had almost forgotten he was there. "Maybe you shouldn't open that." I could see the wary look in his eyes, but there was a trace of curiosity there too.

"No," I shook my head. "I want…no, I _need_ to see what's in this box." I swallowed thickly, and pulled the lid off the box with shaking fingers.

Jasper leaned in slightly, obviously letting his curiosity get the better of him. I could feel his hot breath against my neck since he was so close, and I found myself having to force myself to concentrate on what was in my hand.

I furrowed my brow in confusion as I stared at the item in the box. It was a necklace, with some kind of gold pendent. The pendent was small and looked like it was in the shape of a…tooth? I picked the necklace up by the chain and looked at the pendent closer. My eyes widened and I couldn't stop the gasp that escaped my lips. It seemed that Jasper spotted the same thing I had because he asked the question that was on the tip of my tongue.

"Is that _blood_?"

There was no denying what the little bit of dark red, nearly black, crusty stuff was. I felt bile rise up my throat as I threw the necklace away from me. It hit the far wall and fell to the floor.

I remembered the time that Paul had fallen off his dirt bike and knocked one of his front teeth out. Later, at the dentist, he had them put in a gold tooth. He had thought he was being cool like the rapper, Nelly.

I could hear Jasper trying to talk to me, but the nausea that I was feeling was starting to become worrisome. I pushed past him and ran to the bathroom to empty the contents of my stomach. What kind of sick person would send someone something like that?

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Unknown POV

"But baby. This wig itches. Why don't we play out some other fantasy?" This latest slut purred at me.

She trailed a finger down my chest until her hand was near my belt, while she looked at me from under her lashes. She grinned at me as she started to loosen the buckle. I grabbed her wrists forcefully to halt her movements. She yelped at the strong hold I had on her. I was sure there would be bruises from my grip on her but I couldn't seem to give a shit.

"Put the fucking wig on," I growled. She stuck out her bottom lip in a pout, but placed it on her head nevertheless, the brown locks from the wig falling down her back.

"And the contacts." I shoved a box of the colored contacts at her.

The brown color of the contacts was slightly off, but they would have to do until I could look into _her_ eyes while fucking _her_ senseless. This piece of trash would have to do until I had my angel in my arms where she belonged.

The little slut pouted up at me, but grabbed the box of contacts and went into the bathroom to put them on. I only wished it could be _her_ with me tonight. But I knew it wasn't the right time to reveal myself to her just yet. I was hoping she would start falling for me after all the notes and roses I sent her, but it only succeeded in scaring her. So, I backed off with the roses and letters, and tried a different approach.

I had been watching her that night she went for a jog. I was so fucking angry with her for running at that time. Who knew the kinds of sickos there were out there, especially in LA at that time of night. I decided to follow her and make sure she was safe. I stayed just out of her sight. She couldn't seem to hear my footsteps because of the ipod she was listening to.

I remembered smiling as I heard her singing along to a song that was playing on it. It happened to be _I Will Possess Your Heart_ by Death Cab for Cutie, which was one of my favorite songs. After that song apparently finished, I couldn't help but laugh when she started singing Katy Perry's _California Girls _way off key. Her carefree attitude was endearing and made me love her even more if that was possible.

But the smile dropped off my face as I saw her rip the earplugs out of her ears and start sobbing. I looked around, confused about her reaction. The longer she stood there crying, the harder it was for me to stand still. I finally snapped, and had to go over to her. When I talked to her, I made sure to alter my voice a bit, and it ended up coming out sounding like a New Jersey accent.

I could feel my dick stirring in my jeans the longer I talked to her. She was so fucking hot. I couldn't control myself any longer. I just had to touch her. But, that only seemed to freak her out and she ran away from me.

Later, I could have fucking kicked myself for treating her that way. I just couldn't seem to help my body's reaction to her. I knew I had to make it up to her.

I had fastened the gold tooth, which I had taken out of that idiot's mouth after he was taken care of, on a chain. Even though I didn't want to admit it, I knew she had cared for him. So I decided to give her something that would probably mean a lot to her. I put it in a white box and took out a pen.

I remembered her singing that Death Cab for Cutie song, which was one of my favorite songs too. I thought I could show her that we both had something in common, so I wrote a few of the lyrics on the package.

I just wished I could have seen her reaction when she opened it, but Whitlock ruined the moment for me. That fucker couldn't just leave well enough alone! He always seemed to be there! It was infuriating!

A throat clearing snapped me out of my thoughts, and I turned to see the tramp standing in the doorframe of the bathroom. She was wearing a skimpy little red lingerie number, and was fluttering her eyelashes in a seductive manner. I wanted Bella to be here instead, but since she wasn't, I had to get my rocks off somehow.

I eyed her up and down. She was nowhere near as beautiful as my angel, but it would do for now. She slid up to me and fluttered her lashes again. I felt my lip curl in disgust, but I reached over and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her to me.

I crushed my lips to hers and slipped my tongue into her mouth. She moaned and reached a hand between us, popping the button of my jeans open. I felt her slide her hand into my jeans, and realizing that I had gone commando, she wrapped her hand around my dick. She spread some of the pre-cum around and started pumping.

I closed my eyes and pictured _her_ face, and _her_ eyes staring lustfully up at me while she jacked me off. I could just picture how _her_ hot mouth would feel wrapped around my cock. I felt myself twitch and become even harder in the hand that was still stroking me.

"Bella," I moaned into her mouth. The stroking stopped and I nearly growled as I felt her pull away from me.

"Why do you always call me that when we're together?" She whined. "I bet _she_ wouldn't be able to make you feel this way, the little whore—"

She cut off with a yelp as I backhanded her across the face. She fell to the ground with a heavy thump, and stared up at me with wide eyes. I could see a trickle of blood dribble down her chin from the split lip I had just given her.

"Don't you _ever_ talk about her that way," I growled. I squatted down to her level, grabbing a handful of hair and tugging forcefully, causing her to gasp in pain. "Do you understand me?"

She nodded hastily and raised a shaking hand to her lip after I had released her. I smirked and stood up, towering over her.

"Good." I turned to the door, needing to get away to clear my head. "Don't wait up."

I knew where I could go for a good fuck where I wouldn't be questioned about moaning _her_ name. And then after that, I had some serious thinking to do. I had to figure out a way to get that nuisance out of the way. I saw the way he was looking at my Bella, and it just pissed me off. If Jasper Whitlock thought he could steal _my_ angel away from me, he had another thing coming.

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**AN: Dun dun dun… I wonder who that could be… **

**Anyway, I am so sorry for the long delay for this chapter! I know I kinda left you all at a cliff hanger that last chapter, but hopefully this chapter made up for it. **

**I posted a poll on my profile to see which story you all would like me to update more frequently. I am NOT giving up on any of my stories, but whichever story wins in the poll will have my main focus. So, if you have a minute, please go vote! Also on my profile, I am also starting to put which story I am currently working on, and the date the update should be posted. So if any of you wonder when the next chapter of one of my stories will be posted, you can check it out on my profile. (I find that I write quicker if I set a deadline for myself.)**

**AND Jaspers Izzy was amazing and made me a banner for this story (which can also be seen on my profile) along with the "meet n greet" Jaspers dark angel interviewed me for. I'd like to give a big (longtime overdue) thank you to those two ladies!**

**Lastly, I could really use some feedback on this chapter. I was a little skeptical about posting this one, so please let me know what you thought of it! I'll try to get the next one out soon! **

**~Katie~**


	14. Chapter 14

**AN: Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and alerts! **

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**Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight**

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BPOV

"Are you sure this is safe?" I yelled over the sound of the engine and the roaring of the wind entering the plane. I had a brief moment of déjà vu when I realized I asked that same thing to Jake when he took me bungee jumping. Jasper laughed at my question.

"You ask me that _now_?" He yelled back at me. Even though we were strapped together, we still needed to yell to be able to hear each other.

"This seemed like a better idea down there!" I yelled, gesturing towards the ground that was currently 13,000 feet below us. But, I was currently trying to avoid looking down at it.

After the whole episode with the package that the creeper sent to me, Jasper thought it would be a good idea to try and get my mind off of it. He then remembered the promise he had made to me about taking me skydiving. I couldn't help but compare Jake and Jasper when I thought about it. Jake's solution to get my mind off of unpleasant things in the past, was to take me on some kind of thrilling stunt that would serve to make me forget about my problems. I guessed Jasper had somewhat of the same mindset concerning this type of thing. I could definitely see those two becoming fast friends.

Honestly, his idea was working extremely well. I was scared out of my mind at the moment, which made me unable to think about anything else. Sure, I went bungee jumping before, but that was from a height of about 300 or 400 feet, not 13,000! Now, I was definitely starting to panic. What did that instructor guy say about if the parachute failed? _Shit! I can't do this!_

"Bella, calm down!" I heard Jasper yell over all the noise the plane was making. "I've done this so many times before!"

"The parachute—!" I managed to yell back, but he cut me off.

"Will release! And if by some chance it doesn't, there's a back-up one!"

I tried to calm my breathing. The last thing I needed was to pass out right before jumping from a height of _13,000_ feet. _Shit! There I go with the hyperventilating again!_

"Hey, trust me! I won't let anything bad happen to you!" I nodded in response to his assurance. "Alright, you ready?"

I nodded, refusing to back down. I took a deep breath, before letting out a high pitched scream as I felt Jasper push us from the safety of the plane.

* * *

I watched with wide eyes as Jasper unhooked the parachute once we were back on the ground. I was beyond speech at the moment. My thoughts were a jumbled mess. Jasper looked back at me when he was done with the parachute, and the look on my face must have alarmed him, because he was in front of me with a few long strides.

"Bella? Bella! Are you alright?" I felt Jasper grip my arms and turn me to face him, but I was still beyond speech at the moment. All I could do was stare at him with wide eyes with my mouth gaping open.

"Bella, say something," Jasper pleaded, shaking me slightly.

"That was—was so—" I stammered, unable to get a complete sentence out.

"What?" Jasper asked, shaking me again, trying to get an actual answer out of me.

"Amazing!" I squealed.

Jasper released a sigh of relief and let go of my arms, before smiling brilliantly. I could have sworn my knees went weak at the sight. Or maybe it was due to the adrenaline rush I just experienced.

"Can we go again? That was so much fun!" I exclaimed, jumping up and down on the balls of my feet. Jasper chuckled and shook his head, causing me to pout at him.

"I'll take you again some other time, but we have stuff to do today," he said without further explanation.

"We do?" I asked confused. He nodded but didn't say anymore on the subject.

* * *

"Ugghhh," I groaned loudly. "Do we have to?" I realized I probably sounded like a whining five year old, but I did not want to be _here_ on one of my days off!

Jasper nodded silently, shutting off his car and getting out of it. I watched him petulantly through the windshield, refusing to get out of the car. But, he apparently wasn't going to be deterred. He opened my door for me and motioned me out with an eyebrow raised, as if daring me to challenge him on this.

I sighed, knowing I was fighting a losing battle, and rolled my eyes as I climbed out of the car. Of course he couldn't _see_ me rolling my eyes, since I had my sunglasses on as part of my "disguise," but it gave me a momentary sense of satisfaction at this last show of aversion to his idea.

He smiled down at me as if he knew what I was thinking. As I looked up at him, I found myself wanting to remove his shades and baseball cap. He shouldn't have to hide his eyes and hair behind them. It just seemed wrong. _Geeze_! What the fuck am I thinking? I shook my head to dispel these sudden thoughts.

"Come on," Jasper said softly as he grabbed my hand. I tried to ignore how _right_ it felt to have him holding my hand like this. _Bad Bella!_ _I can't keep having thoughts like this!_

I sighed again and allowed him to pull me to the front doors of the police station. Mike wasn't very surprised to see us back there. He admitted that he almost expected this guy to make another appearance. This made Jasper lose it. He jumped to his feet and got right up to Mike's face.

"You're telling me that you _expected_ this to happen again, and you did _nothing_?" He asked in a deceptively calm voice. "You have got to be fuckin' kidding me right now! She could have been _attacked_! And you didn't find it necessary to…oh I-don't-know…station some of your guys outside her house?" Every word he spoke got louder and louder until he was full out screaming by the end of his speech.

"Jasper, calm down," I said quietly. Jasper turned his glare on me, before his expression softened. He turned back to Mike and took a deep breath as if to calm himself.

"Can't you do anything for her?" He asked through gritted teeth.

"Look, I can't spare my guys for something like this because he hasn't made any physical contact with her. We need a valid reason to send patrols to her house," Mike explained, obviously trying to maintain a calm tone. "I'd be laughed at just suggesting it."

I could practically see the steam coming out of Jasper's ears, so I reached up and tugged on his hand to get him to sit back down in his chair. The last thing we needed was for him to be arrested for assaulting an officer. It looked like he was close to doing it. Mike sighed heavily and sat back down too. He turned to face me with a serious expression.

"If you don't feel safe, and feel like you need protection, I would suggest hiring a bodyguard." I opened my mouth to protest, but he continued before I could. "I have the number of a very efficient agency that I could give to you if you want."

"What's the number?" Jasper asked, but I shook my head violently. He looked at me disbelievingly.

"I don't want someone to be following me around wherever I go," I shuddered at the thought. Jasper raised his eyebrows.

"Don't want someone to—Fuck Bella, this is for your _protection_!" He practically snarled at me. I looked at him with wide eyes. It was strange seeing him react this strongly, but I was determined not to have to resort to this.

"I should be—"

"What, fine?" Jasper asked sarcastically. "Do you even _remember_ when you called me about that guy outside your house? Cause _I_ sure as hell do!" His voice softened somewhat as he continued. "What if I'm not there the next time something like this happens?" I blushed at the reminder of that night, embarrassed by my reaction, and even more so since Jasper got to see it.

"Well, maybe all this worrying is unnecessary," I said, ignoring Jasper's incredulous snort. "I mean, maybe this guy is one of those 'admiring from afar' guys." Jasper shook his head in exasperation before turning back to Mike, who we had been ignoring up until now as we sat in his office.

"Okay, you said you needed a valid reason to send some cops to her house, right?" Mike sighed and nodded. "What about all the fucked-up letters he's sent her?" Mike shook his head and leaned back in his chair.

"That's not reason enough. Someone could say that the letters are just from one of her many devoted fans," he said slowly.

"Okay…what about that guy that assaulted her that night on the street," Jasper shot me an apologetic look as I grimaced at the thought of that night. Mike nodded and leaned forward.

"But only if you have proof that it was the same guy sending you those notes," he said, but he leaned back again when I replied in the negative.

Jasper let out a frustrated groan. He stood up and reached into his pocket, pulling out a Ziploc bag and a crumpled up note, before placing the items on Mike's desk. Mike looked at them curiously, and then I saw what was in the bag. The golden tooth! Had Jasper been carrying that around in his pocket all day? _Gross_!

"How about this?" Jasper asked. He watched as Mike unfolded the note and read it. We both watched Mike's eyebrows rise up into his hairline, before he finally set the note back down and leaned forward again.

"This would work," Mike said, causing Jasper to sigh in relief. "But—" Jasper groaned loudly at this. "I need to send this to the forensics lab and have them run a DNA test to see if this is actually Mr. Harris's blood. Then, _that_ will be ample reason."

"How long will _that_ take?" Jasper asked, aggravated. Mike deliberated for a moment.

"It should be about a week," he replied finally.

"A _week_!" Jasper yelled. "What if this guy shows up again tonight?" Mike seemed to consider this, then turned to face me.

"Do you have any relatives or friends you can stay with this week?"

I racked my brain for someone I could call. Jake and Leah were still away. I hadn't been able to get a hold of Emmett or Seth for a while.

My dad was definitely not an option either. The only thing he was ever interested was in my acting career and being successful. Even while growing up, he didn't spare me much attention. I did _not_ want to go crawling to him.

And I hadn't seen my mom in years, ever since my parents got divorced. The only times I had heard from her, was when she would write to me asking for a handout. Apparently, she married some guy named Phil who was quite the gambler, racking up thousands of dollars in debts.

Mike and Jasper were still staring at me expectantly, so I just shook my head 'no' in response.

"You can stay with me," Jasper blurted suddenly. He cleared his throat nervously when I stared at him with obvious surprise.

"I don't want to put you out—" I began to say.

"You won't." Jasper waved a hand dismissively. "We can stop by your house so you can pick up some of the stuff you'll need this week."

I didn't know what to say to this, so I just nodded.

"Well in that case," Mike said, snapping my attention back to him. "I'll call you to tell you about the results of the DNA test when I find out what they are."

Jasper and I both stood up and made our way to the door of his office.

"Thanks Mike," I said politely. He nodded in acknowledgement with a small smile. I was glad things weren't awkward between the two of us after that disastrous dinner "date."

I turned and followed Jasper out of Mike's office. This would be an interesting week…

* * *

"Uh Jasper? This isn't the way to my house," I pointed out as he turned onto a street that didn't lead anywhere near my home. He glanced over at me and then back at the road.

"I know. But, there's something we need to do first." I stared at him, pondering over his words.

"What are you talking about?" I finally asked. I was baffled when he pulled into an almost empty parking lot. I saw a worn-down looking red building that had paint peeling off at places. There was a small sign that was sticking out of the ground in the front.

"If you don't want a bodyguard, you'll have the next best thing," Jasper said, breaking me out of my thoughts. I stared at him curiously. What could that "next best thing" be?

"A dog," Jasper said proudly as if he could hear my thoughts. I couldn't help but stare at him with my eyebrows raised.

"A dog?" I asked dubiously, staring at the sign in front of the building. He sighed heavily and shook his head in exasperation.

"Not just any dog," he gestured to the sign that I had been staring at. "A trained guard dog."

I squinted at the sign, trying to read the smallish print, and sure enough it read, "highly trained guard dogs for home and family protection."

"How do you know about this place?" I asked, unable to reign in my curiosity.

"A friend of mine mentioned it to me once," he replied with a shrug. I nodded and stared back at the front of the building doubtfully.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, skepticism lacing my tone. "I mean, aren't I staying with you this week?" I flushed slightly at the idea of staying in his house.

"Yeah," Jasper said as he opened his door after he turned off the car. "But, I might need to be somewhere and leave you alone. So, I'd feel better if you had some kind of protection."

I was kind of touched that he was this concerned about me. Of course, I wouldn't ever _tell_ him that. I felt awkward enough with all he was doing for me. To think, I had actually despised him not too long ago! He was surprisingly turning out to be a great friend.

I smiled at that thought as I followed him out of the car and into the building.

We were greeted by a gray-haired man, who smiled at us as we made our way to him. Jasper did most of the talking, explaining the reason for us being there, while I looked around at the small area we were standing in.

There were pictures all along the walls, mostly of dogs. A few chairs had been placed around, making it more of a "sitting room." A large desk was in direct line of the front door, where a woman who looked to be in her early thirties was sitting, typing away at her computer. She kept shooting me furtive glances though, and I assumed she was trying to work out why I looked so familiar.

I twirled a red lock of hair from the wig I was wearing, glad that it seemed to throw her off. She shrugged to herself and resumed her typing. I breathed a sigh of relief. The last thing I needed was for the paparazzi to get wind that I was currently looking for a guard dog. That would just lead to some pretty unpleasant questions. I was startled out of my thoughts by the approach of Jasper and the man he had been talking to.

It turned out that the man had been training dogs for fifteen years. Before that, he had been a cop, but had gotten injured in the line of duty and decided to retire that kind of work. He took Jasper and me into the back where the dogs were.

The dogs were mostly German Shepherds, Rottweilers, and Dobermans. We passed the many kennels, me stopping to "aww" every so often while Jasper rolled his eyes whenever I did that.

He stopped in front of a kennel that held a Rottweiler and stared at it for a second. The dog was standing, staring at him unblinkingly. I held in my "aww" just barely. He was a cutie!

"I swear that dog just gave me the stink-eye!" Jasper accused finally, glancing at the dog warily. I smirked at that. That was _my_ kind of dog.

"I'll take him," I declared. Jasper shot me a bemused look.

"Of course you take the dog that fucking glares at me!" Jasper shook his head exasperatedly.

"First of all, dogs don't glare," I said with another smirk. "And second of all, he's adorable." I bent down to the dog's level and reached my hand through the bars of his cage. He immediately nuzzled his head into my hand and then gave me a slobbery lick on my palm.

"Awww!" I couldn't help exclaiming. "He's so cute!"

"Cute? A dog fucking drools all over your hand and you think that's cute? That's fucking disgusting if you ask me," Jasper grumbled.

"Hey, this was your idea," I reminded him. "And don't call my dog disgusting."

He shook his head at me, but told the man what my choice was.

"So what are you going to name him?" Jasper asked me suddenly. I glanced at the dog again before looking back at him.

"How about Buddy?" I asked with a shrug. Jasper snorted loudly at my suggestion.

"What's wrong with that name?" I demanded.

"Buddy? Seriously? You want to name the poor dog _Buddy_?"

"I don't see what's so funny about that name," I muttered. "I had a friend who had a dog named Buddy." Jasper snorted again and shook his head.

"You can't name a guard dog _Buddy_. That's just wrong." He shook his head again. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright. What do you suggest we name him then?" I asked absentmindedly. He was quiet for a while, as if he was deep in thought, before he got a big grin on his face.

"Major!" He said triumphantly. "It's perfect!"

"Major?" I asked doubtfully, but as I said it, the dog let out a loud bark. I jumped while Jasper laughed.

"See? He likes it." I looked at the dog again. He had his tongue lolling out the side of his mouth as he stared at me. I turned back to face Jasper.

"Major it is, I guess," I agreed.

While Jasper finished up with the guy, I bent over and pet Major. I couldn't picture this dog as a fierce protector. He seemed like such a sweet dog...

* * *

"I'll be right back," I told Jasper.

We were currently in the living room of my house. I had let Major "explore" a little, and he was sniffing around the kitchen at the moment. I ran up the stairs to my room so I could pack a few things, leaving Jasper downstairs with the dog. I threw some clothes, toiletries, and the script I was currently trying to memorize (for the shooting of the next episode of the show) into a small suitcase.

I ran back down the stairs, stopping when I saw Jasper scratching Major behind his ears. It looked like Major was starting to warm up to him. I was suddenly struck with the reality of all he had done for me. I didn't know what I would have done these past few weeks if it wasn't for him.

"Jasper?" He turned around and looked at me questioningly. Before I could think too much about it, I ran down the rest of the steps and threw my arms around his neck. He tensed in surprise at my actions, before embracing me back.

"Thank you," I whispered sincerely. "For everything." He was quiet for a moment as we stood there.

"It was nothing," he stated finally. I shook my head against his chest.

"No, it wasn't _nothing_. You're a great friend Jasper," I said softly. He seemed to tense at my words, but I ignored it. "Thank you for being there for me."

But, before he could say anything, I glanced over his shoulder and spotted Jake and Leah standing there with their mouths gaping open in shock. Apparently they had let themselves in like usual…

"What the hell?" Jake exclaimed.

Jasper spun around at the sound of his exclamation, and seemed at a loss for words. Leah was staring between Jasper and me with accusing eyes. Jake's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. And I kept opening and closing my mouth, unsure of what to say. With everything that had happened, I had completely forgotten that Leah and Jake were supposed to be back today.

"Bella?" Jake demanded, obviously wanting an explanation to my friendliness towards Jasper, who I had apparently hated before he and Leah had left for their trip.

He strode over to me and grabbed my arm in an attempt to get me to look at him. That was possibly the worse mistake he could have made. The only warning we had was the ferocious growl and a furry blur, as Major bounded over to us and latched onto Jake's leg in his effort to "protect" me. Jake howled in pain as Major's teeth sunk through his skin. Jasper, Leah and I jumped into action, trying to get the snarling dog to release Jake's leg. _How much worse could this situation get?_

* * *

**AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! If you haven't already seen it, there is a poll on my profile to see which story you all want me to focus more on. The last time I checked, this story was leading in the poll. **

**And I'm sorry for the delay! I was **_**really**_** trying to get it out a few days ago, but with finals coming up, and all these final papers I had to do for my classes, I couldn't focus on this story. One of the papers I had to write was a story where I couldn't use more than **_**one**_** syllable words, which was really hard to do! It took me hours to write it so that it wouldn't sound all choppy. **

**Anyway, just know that the day I say (on my profile) that a chapter **_**should**_** be out, is just an estimation. I'll always try to get the chapter posted within a few days of it though. **

**Please review and tell me your thoughts about this chapter! I'll try to have the next chapter posted soon.**

**~Katie~**


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